These notes are designed to provide guidance to the FAO Joint Secretary, FAO Consultants, Members and sponsors relating their roles and responsibilities in dealing with the evaluation of food additives and contaminants. The guidelines outline the tasks of the FAO Joint Secretariat and its role in servicing JECFA, time schedules to be followed in preparing for meetings, the appropriate handling of data, and appropriate relationships with sponsors and other data providers. Supplemental material is included that outlines the procedures by which substances may be placed on the agenda (Annex 1) and procedures for issuing the call for data (Annex 2). Close adherence to these guidelines by everyone involved will ensure that the concerns and views of all interested parties are...

During its 59th meeting, the Committee discussed the usefulness of the Technical Data Sheet and the role of specifications as part of the risk assessment process and concluded that the development of specifications is an integral part of the risk assessment of food additives; -drafting of specifications require data on the manufacture and the composition of an additive at all steps of its development and safety testing; - information on the technological functions and the current and intended uses is needed; the output from the risk assessment includes the specifications which relate to the material that was evaluated and to the product to be marketed; - specifications should be continuously reviewed to account for changes in the manufacturing process, the...

These guidelines have been written for an informed audience, and may be used in different contexts. In an international context, the guidelines will provide guidance for hazard characterizations conducted by the Ad hoc Joint Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment and in the development of the WHO Guidelines for Drinking Water Quality (GDWQ). At the national level, they will provide guidance for hazard characterizations conducted for government and regulatory authorities.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) convened an expert consultation on "Risk assessment of Campylobacter spp. In broiler chickens and Vibrio spp. in seafood" in the FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP), Bangkok, Thailand on 5 - 9 August 2002. The list of participants is presented in Annex 1. Mr Dong Qingsong, FAO Deputy Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific and Officer-in-charge, RAP, opened the meeting on behalf of the two sponsoring organizations. In welcoming the participants Mr Qingsong noted the increasing significance of microbiological hazards in relation to food safety. He noted that international trade had amplified the opportunity for these hazards to be disseminated...