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 its various guidelines for the preparation of working papers. The procedural guidelines describe the procedures used by FAO and WHO in its evaluation of food additives and residues of veterinary drugs.
About the calls for experts
Calls for experts are issued when FAO requires appropriate expertise to address a specific food safety issue.
FAO and WHO have established rosters of experts from which individuals would be selected to serve at expert meetings such as JECFA. In order to establish rosters, FAO and WHO issue calls for applications, which describe the essential qualifications of the applicants, selection procedures for the roster and other relevant information. The selection of members is made after a careful consideration of the scientific credentials of the various candidates, and a balance of scientific expertise and other experience is considered essential.
FAO places great value to the technical qualification and independence of the participating experts as well as to the transparency of its selection process. Therefore, FAO has developed procedures for selecting experts assuring that transparency, excellence and independence of opinions is provided. Procedures for the work of JECFA, JEMRA and other experts as well as the process for the selection of experts are both contained in the FAO/WHO framework for the provision of scientific advice on food safety and nutrition.
For participation in JECFA, FAO and WHO have complementary functions in selecting experts. FAO is responsible for selecting members to develop specifications for the identity and purity of food additives and to perform assessments of residue of veterinary drugs in food. 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 the dietary exposure.