Commission Decision of 5 September 2008 setting up an advisory structure of Scientific Committees and experts in the field of consumer safety, public health and the environment and repealing Decision 2004/210/EC (Text with EEA relevance) (2008/721/EC)

ANNEX I U.K. FIELD OF COMPETENCE

1. Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety U.K.

It shall provide opinions on questions concerning all types of health and safety risks (notably chemical, biological, mechanical and other physical risks) of non-food consumer products (for example: cosmetic products and their ingredients, toys, textiles, clothing, personal care and household products such as detergents, etc.) and services (for example: tattooing, artificial sun tanning, etc.).

2. Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks U.K.

It shall provide opinions on health and environmental risks related to pollutants in the environmental media and other biological and physical factors or changing physical conditions which may have a negative impact on health and the environment, for example in relation to air quality, waters, waste and soils, as well as on life cycle environmental assessment. It shall also address health and safety issues related to the toxicity and eco-toxicity of biocides.

Without prejudice to the competences conferred on the European Chemical Agency (ECHA), Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS) and other European risk assessment agencies, it may also be invited by the Commission to address, notably in collaboration with other European agencies and in particular ECHA, questions relating to examination of the toxicity and eco-toxicity of chemical, biochemical and biological compounds whose use may have harmful consequences for human health and the environment. In addition, the Committee will address questions relating to methodological aspect of the assessment of health and environmental risks of chemicals, including mixtures of chemicals, as necessary for providing sound and consistent advice in its own areas of competence as well as in order to contribute to the relevant issues in close cooperation with other European agencies.

3. The Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks U.K.

It shall provide opinions on questions concerning emerging or newly identified health and environmental risks and on broad, complex or multidisciplinary issues requiring a comprehensive assessment of risks to consumer safety or public health and related issues not covered by other Community risk assessment bodies.

Examples of potential areas of activity include potential risks associated with interaction of risk factors, synergic effects, cumulative effects, antimicrobial resistance, new technologies such as nanotechnologies, medical devices including those incorporating substances of animal and/or human origin, tissue engineering, blood products, fertility reduction, cancer of endocrine organs, physical hazards such as noise and electromagnetic fields (from mobile phones, transmitters and electronically controlled home environments), and methodologies for assessing new risks. It may also be invited to address risks related to public health determinants and non-transmissible diseases.

ANNEX II U.K. RULES OF PROCEDURES

The common rules of procedures to be adopted by the Scientific Committees in accordance with Article 12 shall cover in particular the following subjects:

1. coordination between the Scientific Committees U.K.

(a) the designation of the Scientific Committee responsible on request for scientific opinions which do not fall within the fields of competence of a single Scientific Committee or which need to be considered by more than one Committee; U.K.

(b) the adoption of joint opinions, rapid advice, memoranda and/or position statements; U.K.

(c) the procedures for ensuring coordination between the Scientific Committees including matters relating to harmonisation of risk assessment and the functioning of the Inter-Committee Coordination Group; U.K.

2. decision procedures within the Committees U.K.

(a) the election of the Chair and Vice-Chairs of the Scientific Committees; U.K.

(b) the procedures for the adoption of opinions: U.K.

• under normal conditions,

• under written procedure under normal conditions, and

• under an accelerated, written procedure if the urgency of the matter requires such a procedure;

(c) the procedure for the provision of rapid advice when so requested by the Commission in accordance with Article 2(3); this procedure shall ensure the quality and appropriate endorsement by the Committee of the advice; U.K.

(d) the adoption of memoranda and position papers to draw the attention of the Commission to specific or emerging problems; U.K.

3. organisation of the scientific works U.K.

(a) the creation and organisation of the working groups of the Scientific Committees, including joint working groups; U.K.

(b) the association of scientific advisors from the Pool to the activities of the Committees and the involvement of external experts; U.K.

(c) the appointment of Rapporteurs and the description of their tasks in relation to the preparation of draft opinions for the Scientific Committees; U.K.

(d) the format and content of scientific opinions and procedures for ensuring and improving their coherence as well as the editing standards; U.K.

(e) the organisation of, and participation in, meetings, thematic workshops, and networks; U.K.

(f) the association of trainees; U.K.

4. obligations of the members of the Committee, the associated and other scientific advisors from the Pool, external experts and for the trainees U.K.

(a) the participation criteria and the conditions under which membership of the Committee shall expire; U.K.

(b) the implementation of the confidentiality requirements laid down in Article 17; U.K.

(c) the responsibilities and obligations of members, associated and other scientific advisors from the Pool and external experts in relation to their contacts with petitioners, special interest groups and other stakeholders; U.K.

(d) the conditions and the procedure under which a member of a Committee, an associated or other scientific advisor or an external expert should be excluded from the deliberations and/or the vote on a particular subject in the Committee or in a working group, where there are reasonable doubts on his independence; U.K.

5. relations with third parties U.K.

(a) procedures for identifying, resolving or clarifying diverging opinions with Community, national and international bodies carrying out similar tasks, including information exchange and the organisation of joint meetings; U.K.

(b) representation of a Scientific Committee in external activities, notably in relation to other Community or international bodies engaged in similar activities; U.K.

(c) the organisation of the stakeholder dialogue procedure, in particular the organisation of hearings with industry or other special interest groups or other stakeholders; U.K.

(d) the publication of scientific opinions and other documents. U.K.

[F1 ANNEX III U.K. INDEMNITIES

Textual Amendments

F1 Substituted by Commission Decision of 3 June 2010 amending Decision 2008/721/EC as regards indemnities paid to members of scientific committees and experts in the field of consumer safety, public health and the environment (2010/309/EU).

1. Members of the Scientific Committees, scientific advisors from the Pool and external experts shall be entitled to an indemnity for their participation in the meetings of the committees, thematic workshops, working groups and other meetings and events organised by the Commission as follows: U.K.

(a)

in the case of participation in person, EUR 385 for each day in which they were present;

(b)

in the case of participation from distance, EUR 100 for every begun hour of attendance, with a ceiling of:

(i)

EUR 385 for attendance over a morning and an afternoon; and

(ii)

EUR 195 for attendance over a morning or an afternoon;

2. Members of the Scientific Committees, scientific advisors from the Pool and external experts shall be entitled to an indemnity for acting as Rapporteur as follows: U.K.

(a)

the indemnity shall be modulated, depending on the workload related to the complexity of the matter, the length of the period needed to complete the opinion, the amount and accessibility of data and scientific literature and information to be collected and processed and the extent and complexity of public and stakeholder consultations and contacts with other bodies, in light of the following indicative criteria:

Amount	Indicative criteria
EUR  385	Simple and routine issue Opinion based on examination of a dossier, with limited data search and limited literature examination No public consultation No more than five months between first and last meeting
EUR  770	Complex issue Opinion based on significant data and literature search and examination Stakeholder and/or public consultation with limited feedback examination workload From five to nine months between the first and the last meeting
EUR  1 155	Very complex issue Need for very extensive data and literature search and analysis Extensive and complex consultations with stakeholder, the public and other scientific bodies, with important feedback to be examined More than nine months between the first and the last meeting

(b)

in each specific case, on the basis of the criteria mentioned in point (a), the Commission shall indicate in the request for an opinion which of the amounts for the indemnity of the Rapporteur applies. The choice of the applicable amount may be modified by the Commission during the preparatory work for the requested opinion if that is justified by unforeseen changes in relation to the relevant criteria.]