EFSA and Identification of Emerging Risks

Abstract

Article 34 Regulation 178/2002/EC establishes a role for EFSA in the pro-active identification of emerging risks to human health resulting from food and feed. Identification of emerging risks and their prevention is a relatively new and increasingly popular domain of risk regulation in Europe. For EFSA, it is closely linked with the duty to collect and analyse data, the duty to communicate independently on public health risks, and the duty to establish and promote international networks in the field of food and feed safety. The Authority is only one of the actors responsible for identification of emerging risks in European food supply chain, while the power to regulate risks lies with the EU institutions and Member States. This is a complex picture with multiple actors, in which risk identification, while institutionally separated from the regulation of risk, is nevertheless intertwined with the latter in the situation of scientific uncertainty and urgency that often characterise emerging risks. The current legal framework surrounding Article 34 encourages EFSA to exercise caution in positive identification of emerging risks.