EU hopes safety body will clean up food industry

A new European Food Authority (EFA), to be established within two years, is the centrepiece of a radical White Paper on Food Safety which will be introduced today in Brussels by the Commissioner for Public Health and Consumer Protection, Mr David Byrne.

The White Paper, co-written by the Enterprise Commissioner, Mr Erkii Likkanen, will be approved by the Commission this morning. It contains a detailed 80-point action plan on food safety, with a precise timetable for regulation and implementation over the next three years.

The scope of the new legislation, the aim of which is to provide protection "from farm to the table", is likely to have major implications for the entire EU food and drinks industry, which represents some €600 billion in production, 15 per cent of manufacturing output, and some 2.6 million employees to add to the Union's 7.5 million farmers.

The ambitious programme, a key priority of the Prodi Commission, will have to make its way through the treacherous waters of parliamentary and member-state approval. One major obstacle will be finding the money for the new body, which will employ several hundred scientists and administrators. The White Paper does not put a costing on the authority. "We simply do not know yet", an official close to Mr Byrne said.

While admitting that the struggle to loosen purse strings may be his toughest battle, Mr Byrne said: "If we do not get the money, it will simply not work."

The precise functions of the independent EFA and its relationship to other institutions and committees will not be finalised until September. In the meantime there will be consultations with MEPs, national capitals and the scientific community.

The underlying philosophy of the new authority will reflect a clear demarcation between the roles of risk-assessment, which will be carried out by the EFA, and risk-management and control, functions of the Commission and the EU's Food and Veterinary Office, which is based in Ireland. Scientists will advise on dangers, but the political tasks of legislation and supervision will remain separate.

The division of labour is crucial, Mr Byrne insists, and marks the major difference between the EFA and the US Food and Drug Administration, which performs both roles. "Our view, and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind, is that you must separate assessment from management, scientists from politicians", Mr Byrne says. Doing so, he argues, enhances the independence of scientific advice and ensures democratic accountability over ensuing legislation.

The testing of drugs will continue to be carried out by the Union's European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products in London.

Crucially, because of extreme national sensitivities on the issue, the EFA will not replace the national food agencies of member-states, but will conduct its own research, using its own scientists as well as the resources of the member-states.

"Through the manner in which it discharges its functions", the White Paper argues, "the authority would have to demonstrate the highest levels of independence, of scientific excellence and of transparency in its operations. In this fashion it should be in a position rapidly to establish itself as the authoritative point of reference for consumers, the food industry, member-state authorities, and on the wider world stage."

Mr Byrne insists that the authority will win the moral right "over time" to be deferred to. This should come about through the excellence of its scientific work and the extent of its consultations with experts in the member-states.

Mr Byrne also hopes that the authority will win the confidence of consumers through a parallel role of disseminating "good news" about food, such as advice on dietary issues. Its communication role will be particularly important, since Mr Byrne acknowledges that scientists have in the past failed to appreciate the importance of making their work comprehensible.

The authority will be established through use of the combined resources of the current scientific advisory committees and of the Union's own research directorate and its Joint Research Centre. It will establish a rapid alert system to allow for the immediate notification and communication of food safety problems.

The White Paper does not suggest a location for the authority beyond insisting that it must be "easily accessible".