Byrne speaks up for the consumer
better representation on advisory bodies and increased rights to be
consulted, if we are to believe the words of European Commissioner
for Health and Consumer Protection, David Byrne. In an interview
with the UK's Food Standards Agency, Byrne said the new European
Food Safety Authority will feed off other national agencies and
consumer groups.
Consumer organisations across the European Union should expect better representation on advisory bodies and increased rights to be consulted, said European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection David Byrne.
Speaking in an interview with the UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) for the agency's monthly newsletter, he said: "Proper involvement of consumer organisations in EU policy making is crucial.That is why I have made it one of the central objectives of the European Commission's Consumer Policy Strategy from now until 2006."
Under this new strategy, the Commission will strengthen the rights of consumer organisations to be consulted on policy initiatives, said Byrne.
He told the FSA that the Commission would increase consumer representation on the different advisory bodies and working groups that assist it, and would back training programmes for professionals in consumer organisations so that they can easily participate in EU policy making.
National food safety agencies, such as the Food Standards Agency, will be expected to play a key role feeding their scientific knowledge and experience into the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is currently being established, he added.
"It is absolutely necessary for this co-operation to occur so that the EFSA can be truly authoritative on food science. In the future I believe that the EFSA will provide central co-ordination for the efforts and resources of the national food authorities and agencies, as well as an important focus for networking," said Byrne in the interview.
"With the increasing sophistication and complexity of both science and legislation, it was clear that the mechanisms of the past could no longer satisfy the needs of the present and those of the future. I am confident that EFSA will address these past structural weaknesses and work actively to regain consumer confidence," he continued.
He also said that the EFSA has a key role to play in risk assessment and in risk communication.
"It will have its ear to the ground, monitoring and actively seeking scientific information. This will enable it to identify at the earliest possible moment any developing risks in the food supply so that we can take appropriate early action to contain and, hopefully, eliminate problems before they can escalate."
According to the report, the EFSA will also be expected to make the scientific issues underpinning food safety understandable to consumers to allow them to make informed choices.
"The best scientific information on risks must be formulated by trained professionals in the field - due to the scientific complexities involved, an adequate evaluation of risks cannot be made by lay people," said Byrne.
"It is, however, important that consumers are able to understand the scientific issues underpinning the decisions we take, and EFSA will provide a window into these complex matters for them."
