Calls for data and experts

About the calls for data

The FAO secretariat for the Food safety scientific advice program invites the submission of information on substances that will be evaluated at future meetings as described in its requests for data. As noted in the requests for data, reports of studies that are submitted should contain detailed information. Those who submit information are invited to prepare monographs summarizing the data that they are submitting, as described in the various guidelines for the preparation of working papers. The procedural guidelines describe the procedures used by FAO and WHO in their evaluation of food additives and residues of veterinary drugs.

About the calls for experts

Calls for experts are issued when FAO requires expertise to address specific food ‑safety issues.

FAO and WHO have established rosters of experts from which individuals are selected to serve at expert meetings such as the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). In order to establish the rosters, FAO and WHO issue calls for applications, which describe the essential qualifications of the applicants, the selection procedures for the roster and other relevant information. The selection of experts is made after careful consideration of the scientific credentials of the candidates. A balance of scientific expertise and other experience is considered essential.

FAO places great value on the technical qualifications and independence of the participating experts as well as on the transparency of the selection process. Therefore, FAO has developed procedures for selecting experts, ensuring that transparency, excellence and independence of opinion are provided for. Procedures for the work of JECFA, the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Meetings on Microbiological Risk Assessment (JEMRA) and other expert committees, as well as the process for selecting the experts, are contained in the FAO/WHO Framework for the Provision of Scientific Advice on Food Safety and Nutrition.

FAO and WHO have complementary functions in selecting experts to participate in JECFA. FAO is responsible for selecting members to develop specifications for the identity and purity of food additives and to perform assessment of veterinary drug residues in food, while WHO is responsible for selecting members to perform the toxicological evaluations of the substances under consideration. Both FAO and WHO invite members who are responsible for assessing dietary exposure.

JECFA rosters

JEMRA rosters

AMR rosters

FAO expert meeting