Is scientific assessment a scientific discipline?: A reflection paper on EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority

Graduate certificate on risk analysis for the Agrifood sector at the University of Buenos Aires

Argentina has an extensive experience in the biosafety assessment of transgenic crops. The regulatory framework celebrated 30 years of existence in 2021 and has pioneered the establishment of the biosafety systems in Latin America. During this period, Argentina's regulatory framework evolved to keep up with the advancements in plant and animal biotechnology and in risk assessment criteria, as new knowledge and experience was being gained. However, despite the country's agricultural tradition and experience in the adoption of innovations by the productive sector, dedicated, formal academic offerings training is lacking and this is also true for most countries in the world. Responding to this perceived need and going beyond biotechnology to include other regulated inputs used along the food production chain (chemicals, biologics, food additives, etc.), we developed a program to introduce graduates from diverse disciplines to the principles and practice of Risk Analysis (Assessment, Management and Communication) with focus on the Agrifood sector. In 2020, the School for Graduate Students of the School of Agriculture-University of Buenos Aires, approved two Certificates on Risk Analysis for the Agrifood Sector: Conceptual Bases of Risk Analysis and Methodological Tools. The first edition of the certificates was completed in December 2022 and the second one is presently ongoing. The fundaments, rationale, structure and objectives of these certificates are presented.

Scientific assessments in European food law: Making it future-proof

European food laws increasingly use scientific evidence to protect consumers from hazards and to prevent the use of misleading information. In this article, the use of risk assessment in European food law is analysed and the implications of the recently adopted adjustments to the EU's General Food Law are reviewed. The risk analysis cycle that has been implemented in many authorisation decisions of the European Commission has resulted in the increased level of public health protection since 2002. The food law evaluation under REFIT however identified various shortcomings, including the civil societies' perception that various elements of EFSA's work lacked transparency and independence. To deal with these identified issues, the newly adopted regulation will bring about specific adjustments to the General Food Law and sectorial legislation. Although these adjustments are expected to improve European food policies, today's EU food laws should be further enhanced by improving the use of nutritional sciences in food law. Such joint efforts can result in a higher level of consumer protection and further advance the internal European market. Only through improving the systematic way to conduct scientific analyses into and by enhancing their use in risk management, European food law will become more future-proof.

Capacities for the Risk Assessment of GMOs: Challenges to Build Sustainable Systems

The need for functional risk assessment bodies in general, and in the biosafety field in particular, demands continued efforts and commitment from regulatory agencies, if results that are sustainable in time are to be achieved. The lack of formal processes that ensure continuity in the application of state of the art scientific criteria, the high rotation in some cases or the lack of experienced professionals, in others, is a challenge to be addressed. Capacity building initiatives with different approaches and degrees of success have been implemented in many countries over the years, supported by diverse governmental and non-governmental organizations. This document summarizes some capacity building experiences in developing countries and concludes that risk assessors taking ownership and regulatory authorities fully committed to developing and retaining highly qualified bodies are a sine qua non to achieve sustainable systems. To this end, it is essential to implement “in-house” continuing education mechanisms supported by external experts and organizations, and inter-institutional cooperation. It has to be noted that these recommendations could only be realized if policy makers understand and appreciate the value of professional, independent regulatory bodies.