Implemented activities under the EFSA Pre-Accession programme

Transcription

1 EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN-753 TECHNICAL REPORT Implemented activities under the EFSA Pre-Accession programme European Food Safety Authority 2, 3 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma, Italy KEY WORDS IPA, Pre-Accession, EFSA, Risk assessment 1 On request from EFSA, Question No EFSA-Q , approved on 26 January Correspondence: AFSCO.ENPA@efsa.europa.eu Suggested citation: European Food Safety Authority, 2015; Implemented activities under the EFSA Pre-Accession programme EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN pp. Available online: European Food Safety Authority, 2015

2 SUMMARY This report presents the activities and budget consumed of the completed EFSA Pre-Accession Programme entitled: Preparatory Measures for the Participation of the Candidate countries and the Potential Candidate countries in European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) The Programme is externally funded by the European Commission from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The overall objective of the Programme is to promote understanding of EFSA s work in the Pre- Accession countries, share expertise, create information exchange mechanisms, and involve the national authorities in crisis coordination exercises. The target audiences are the experts from the Competent Authorities for food and feed safety in the Pre-Accession countries, in particular those with a similar remit as EFSA s. Representatives of senior management, decision makers, scientific networks leaders, communication officers, and scientists took part in a range of activities within the Programme. During the programme implementation some countries changed their status and consequently the level of involvement in the Programme and EFSA s activities. Croatia become a Member state since July 2013 and had been already fully integrated in EFSAs work through the Pre-Accession programme, while Montenegro, Serbia and Albania become Candidate countries. The Pre-Accession team within the Advisory Forum and Scientific Cooperation Unit (AFSCO) in EFSA is coordinating the implementation of the Programme. It cooperates and liaises with the National coordinators (designated via the EU delegations) for the Programme in the Pre-Accession countries, other EFSA units, the European Commission and the EU Member State s (MS) food safety authorities. The EFSA Pre-Accession Steering Committee has been established in order to ensure better monitoring and control over the general implementation of the Programme activities as well as to facilitate the planning of activities. The methodology has been based on the experiences EFSA had obtained with similar Pre-accession Programmes. The methodology used in those countries appeared to be most effective for enhancement of national systems in the area of food and feed safety. In order to assess the needs and define priorities under the Programme, the Pre-Accession Team together with the national coordinators, performed a survey in each of the Pre-Accession countries. Based on the results, a provisional work plan for the Programme including topics for events to be organised, was drafted. During the 3 years Programme, the objectives were met through the implementation of different activities. The overall project organisation was set up to involve not only staff from the Competent Authorities (Coordinating institution), but also to reach the scientific community and the public in the beneficiaries countries. Assistant coordinators were employed in each Candidate country to provide the technical support to the National coordinators. Competent Authorities representatives, scientific and communication experts participated in a number of events organised by the AFSCO Unit (workshops, specific risk assessment trainings, study tours, Advisory Forum and Focal point meetings). In cooperation with other EFSA Units, the Pre-Accession experts took part in various EFSA s scientific networks meetings and trainings. Countries representatives were involved in EFSA crises exercise, and scientific experts were invited to participate in EFSA s scientific colloquias and conferences. In total 549 participants from the Pre- Accession countries took part in the different EFSA s events. The technical report on data collection activities in the Pre-Accession countries was prepared and shared with the Member States through the Information Exchange Network. In order to reach a wider community in the Pre-Accession countries, EFSAs corporate materials and scientific outputs were translated in the Pre-Accession languages. EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN-753 2

3 Assistant Coordinators organised several events at national level to raise awareness of the Programme and EFSA scientific work. The Pre-accession team and other EFSA colleagues took part in national events to present the work done in the different areas under the remit of EFSA. Two amendments to the Programme contract were made with the aim to prolong the Programme duration in order to prevent discontinuation. The amendment did not affect the basic purpose of the programme, but it allowed continuation of the implementation and cooperation with the countries and diminished the gap between this Programme and the next Programme which could damage the cooperation and relations with the countries. Thanks to the Programme, the competent authorities and scientific community from the beneficiary countries were well introduced with EFSAs working methodologies, role and tasks as the reference point for risk assessment in the European food safety system. Croatia became the 28 th Member State in July Croatia s food safety authorities and experts from the Croatian Food Agency (HAH) and other Croatian food safety institutions have been participating in EFSA s Pre-Accession Programme since The joint activities with EFSA have enabled Croatian experts to become familiar with developments in the EU that relate to food safety and to exchange views and opinions with colleagues from EFSA and EU Member States. The continuation of the cooperation between EFSA and the Pre-Accession countries, under the new Pre-Accession programme (kick off in March 2015), was discussed and agreed at the Final meeting organised with the National coordinators and Assistant coordinators. EFSA will further work to build on the progress made within the Programmes in recent years and will continue to involve the Pre- Accession countries in its work. The focus will be on the risk assessment capacity building and more involvement of the scientific community from the Pre-Accession countries in EFSAs working groups and projects. EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN-753 3

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary... 2 Table of contents... 4 Introduction and Background... 5 Objectives... 5 Target groups... 5 Institutional set-up, staff involvement and overall project organisation... 6 Methodology and reasons for the proposed methodology... 7 Main activities The network of the Assistants coordinators Seconded National Expert Pre-Accession events... 8 a) Induction trainings to risk assessment... 9 b) Seminars/workshops and study tours Participation in EFSA s networks with the MSs Participation in other EFSA s events Translation into Pre-Accession languages EFSA staff visits to the Pre-Accession countries Participation in EU Agencies network Final meeting Difficulties encounter and measures taken to overcome it Changes introduces in implementation Conclusions Budget execution Appendices Appendix A. List of the coordinating institutions for the Programme in the Pre-accession countries.. 14 EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN-753 4

5 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND This report presents the activities and budget consumed of the completed EFSA Pre-Accession Programme entitled: Preparatory Measures for the Participation of the Candidate countries and the Potential Candidate countries in European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) (hereinafter the Programme). The Programme is externally funded by the European Commission under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The IPA Programme came into force on 1 January 2007 bringing all Pre-Accession support into a single, focused instrument. It replaces the previous pre-accession financial instruments (PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD, CARDS and the Turkish pre-accession instrument). It covers the countries with candidate status (currently Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) and potential candidate status (Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo*). During the last years Montenegro (since December 2010), Serbia (since March 2012) and Albania (since June 2014) have become Candidate countries and Croatia became Member State (since July 2013). Today there are therefore: 5 Candidate countries (Albania, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey) and 2 Potential Candidate countries (Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo*). Through the Programme, EFSA is working with the national authorities of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo*, Serbia and Turkey on food and feed safety issues within EFSA s remit. The Advisory Forum and Scientific Cooperation Unit (AFSCO) is coordinating the implementation of the Programme. OBJECTIVES The overall objective of the Programme is to promote understanding of EFSA s work in the Pre- Accession countries, share expertise, create information exchange mechanisms, and involve the national authorities in crisis coordination exercises. It is essential that the countries are informed about and involved in the operations of EFSA, making it possible to take part in its operations on equal footing upon accession. The specific objectives of the Programme were to: - prepare the competent bodies in the beneficiary countries active in the fields relevant to the work of EFSA, the European Commission and the Member States for their future participation in EFSA networks; - help create communication and information exchange systems that will enable future participation of the five candidate countries in EFSA networks; - transfer knowledge on methodologies used in the fields within the remit of EFSA, in particular on risk assessment and data collection; - support the beneficiary countries in their communication activities linked to risk assessment. TARGET GROUPS The direct target audiences are the experts from the Competent Authorities for food and feed safety in the Pre-Accession countries, in particular those with a similar remit as EFSA s. Representatives of senior management, decision makers, scientific networks leaders, communication officers, and scientists took part in a range of activities within the Programme. Indirect target audiences included stakeholders, scientific academic and civil society organisations and ultimately include the entire population of each of the countries involved. EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN-753 5

6 INSTITUTIONAL SET-UP, STAFF INVOLVEMENT AND OVERALL PROJECT ORGANISATION EFSA EFSA Pre-Accession Steering Committee European Commission (Agreement on IPA Programme) Member States Authorities, Risk Assessment experts and organisations AFSCO Pre-accession team Speakers from European Commission Coordinating institution in the Pre-Accession countries National coordinators and Assistant coordinators Network of institutions and experts involved in food safety area in the country Organisational chart of the institutional set-up of the Programme The AFSCO Unit (the Pre-Accession team) is responsible for the implementation of the Programme activities. The team cooperates and liaises with the Pre-Accession food safety institutions, other EFSA units, MSs authorities and the EC in order to ensure and to organise the Pre-Accession experts` participation in EFSA s meetings and to identify topics and speakers for seminars/workshops/trainings and study tours. It ran the day to day cooperation with the relevant contacts in the Pre-Accession countries and provided support on specific queries which were covered by the remit of EFSA. The Pre-accession team is composed of a Pre-Accession Coordinator, a Policy Officer, an assistant and throughout the Programme it is assisted by EFSA staff from the scientific units and the Communication Department. In order to ensure better monitoring and control over the general implementation of the Programme activities, as well as to facilitate the planning of activities, a meeting of the EFSA Pre-Accession Steering Committee was held with members from all the Scientific Directorates, the Communication Directorate, the Finance Unit and the Executive Office Unit. The Pre-Accession countries have different structures and institutional competences for carrying out risk analysis in food safety. In order to ensure the implementation of the Programme in the beneficiary countries, to enhance the cooperation with the national food safety authorities and to strengthen the exchange of information, national coordinators for the Programme were appointed in all 8 Pre- Accession countries. The appointment had been done via the EU Delegations in the countries EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN-753 6

7 (appendix A - List of coordination institutions in the Pre-Accession countries). In addition Assistant Coordinators were funded by the Programme in each Candidate country (Croatia, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey). The role of Assistant Coordinators was to support National coordinators on the practical implementation of the Programme activities and to raise the visibility of EFSA and the Pre-Accession Programme in their countries. Since the beginning of the Programme, EFSA created a dedicated webpage on its website 4 where it is possible to follow the developments of the Programme in the spirit of openness and transparency. The Pre-Accession countries had also developed web pages on their institutional websites where general information about EFSA and the Pre-Accession Programme activities were published. Some promoted the EFSA Expert Database, calls for EFSA`s Scientific Committee and Panels, as well as important EFSA public announcements, such as press releases and opinions. In order to disseminate information on the implemented Programme activities to a wider audience in the countries, some of the coordinating institutions translated EFSA materials and published them on their websites. METHODOLOGY AND REASONS FOR THE PROPOSED METHODOLOGY The methodology was based on the experiences EFSA had obtained with similar Pre-accession Programme (from 2005). The methodology used in those countries appeared to be most effective for enhancement of the national systems in the area of food and feed safety. In order to assess the needs and define priorities under the Programme, the Pre-Accession Team had, together with the National coordinators, performed a survey in each of the Pre-Accession countries. Based on the results a provisional work plan for the Programme, including topics for events to be organised, was drafted. The Programme team met several times with the coordinating institutions in the Pre-Accession countries during the project implementation. Meetings were organised with the aim to discuss the programme progress, newest developments in EFSA and in the national food safety system. Each Pre-Accession event (training, workshop and study tour) was assessed with the objective to improve the performance and to determine the topics for future events under the Programme. Replies showed that participants significantly improved their knowledge on food safety and the work of EFSA, the MSs and the EC. Evaluation of the meeting reports submitted from the Pre-Accession experts after each EFSA meeting showed that they appreciated having the opportunity to share their experience and difficulties in their work with experts from EFSA and Member States and to extend the network of people with experience in the same field. Due to the nature of its work, EFSA plays a major role in building food safety networks. Therefore the integration into EFSA s work of the 8 beneficiary countries on a wide range of scientific data exchanges and bilateral collaboration should be build up in the science, institutional activities, Advisory Forum activities, crisis planning and communication, to ensure that on accession the networks would be able to function. In order to facilitate all these activities it was important that there was a common understanding of the legal framework, constraints and context in which EFSA operates in. 4 EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN-753 7

8 MAIN ACTIVITIES During the three years of the Programme, objectives were met through implementation of different activities. The overall project organisation was set up to involve not only staff from the Competent Authorities for food and feed safety (Coordinating institution), but also to reach the scientific community and wider public in the beneficiaries countries. EFSA s network of experts and institutions from beneficiaries counties was further developed and their participation in EFSA work and projects was significantly expanded. 1. The network of the Assistants coordinators Assistant coordinators (AC) were employed in each Candidate country to provide the technical support to the National coordinators for the Programme implementation. The best candidates for the AC positions were chosen based on the outcome of interviews and written tests. Their main tasks were to support the practical implementation of the Programme, activities related to networking and scientific cooperation, and to raise the visibility of EFSA and the Programme work at national level. Their work improved the cooperation and networking activities between and among the Pre-Accession countries, Member States and EFSA. Beside the technical support for the Programme implementation, ACs organised and participated in national events to raise the awareness on EFSA s work and the Pre-Accession Programme. They created, maintained and expanded the national network of experts and stakeholders for information and data sharing, they developed and maintained the webpages on EFSA and the Programme activities on the national websites and proofread the translations of EFSAs documents. They facilitated the preparation of food safety country profiles for the Food Safety Almanac 5 that provide an overview of the legal basis, responsible institutions and food safety structures at regional and local level. The country profiles should also facilitate and enable contacts and cooperation especially during crisis situations. This was a joint initiative between EFSA, BfR (the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in Germany) MSs and Candidate countries institutions. The Project team organised trainings and prepared guidelines on the practical implementation of the AC tasks. 2. Seconded National Expert A Seconded national expert from Montenegro was funded by the Programme to run the daily work on the project management and liaison with the network of the Pre-Accession institutions, EFSA Units and MS institutions. The tasks were primarily on the preparation and running of the Pre-Accession events, organisation of their participation in EFSA meetings, cooperation with the National and Assistant Coordinators, writing guidelines documents for implementation, reports and mandates for the current Programme and planning of the next Pre-Accession Programme. The SNE fulfilled a dual role of carrying expertise from the programme beneficiary countries to EFSA and from EFSA back to the countries. Experience has proven that the presence of an SNE from a Pre- Accession country allows a smoother and quicker policy process, as the SNE is well aware of various national positions and expectations. In return, the benefit for the national food safety administration was that SNE increased the expertise while gaining inside practical knowledge on the institutional setup and functioning of the EU food safety system. 3. Pre-Accession events Competent Authorities representatives, scientific and communication experts participated in a number of events organised by the Pre-Accession team: induction trainings to risk assessment in different food safety areas, workshops/seminars and study tours. 5 EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN-753 8

9 a) Induction trainings to risk assessment Whit the objective to increase the risk assessment capacity in the Pre-Accession countries, EFSA provided 5 training courses on the principles and methods of the food safety risk assessment in different fields: Microbiological Risk Assessment Chemical Risk Assessment Nutrition Risk Assessment Pest Risk Assessment Risk Assessment in Genetically Modified Organism and other Biotechnologies The trainings took place from May 2013 until June The tutors came from the Danish Technical University, the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA, United Kingdom), Aarhus University (Faculty of Science and Technology, Dept. of Agroecology Flakkebjerg Research Centre, Denmark) and EFSA. The overall objective of the courses was to train experts from the Pre-Accession countries with a scientific background and an interest in food and/or feed safety risk assessment in order to expand their theoretical knowledge and practical skills on principles and methods of risk assessment. The activities included a mix of presentations, group work and case studies. In total 118 experts from the Pre-Accession countries took part in the Risk assessment trainings The event reports were published on the EFSA website. b) Seminars/workshops and study tours The following seminars/workshops and study tours were organised during the Programme: Seminar on Animal Health and Welfare Workshop on Data Collection and Analysis activities Study tour to the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority Study tour to the Irish Food Safety Authorities Seminar on Risk Communication Agenda and topics were prepared based on suggestions from the Pre-Accession countries, assessment of their needs and suggestions from the hosting institution. The objective of the seminars/workshops was to inform the beneficiary countries on the latest work of EFSA into respective area and to present joint projects that EFSA was running with the MS. Experts and institutions from the beneficiaries were also encouraged and invited to participate in these projects. In addition these events promoted cooperation, networking and data sharing between EFSA, the Pre-Accession countries and the MSs. The technical report on data collection activities in the Pre-Accession countries was prepared and shared with the Member States through the Information Exchange Platform, as the follow up on Data Collection and Analysis workshop. In addition they gained the access to the Platform which facilitates the information exchange on risk assessment activities between and amongst the EU Members States and EFSA. Study tours were organised to follow up on the beneficiaries needs to get an overview on national food safety systems from the EU MSs. They were organised as a two-day exchange between experts from the MSs Authorities and experts from the Pre-Accession countries on food safety information and practical work at national level. In particular, these events provided a comprehensive overview on the legal, regulatory and administrative aspects of the Authorities involved in the national food safety system. This gave participants additional knowledge on how to interpret requirements from Regulation EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN-753 9

10 (EC) No 178/2002 when setting up their national food safety systems. The importance of EFSA for the Member States with a limited capacity for risk assessment was highlighted. In total 149 experts from the Pre-Accession countries participated in these events. Event reports were published on EFSA website. 4. Participation in EFSA s networks with the MSs (Advisory Forum, Focal Point meetings, AFWGC and EFSA scientific networks) The Advisory Forum, Focal Points, Advisory Forum Working group on Communication and dedicated networks are key vehicles for data and information exchange, consultation, and work sharing between EFSA and the Members States. These networks facilitate scientific cooperation through the coordination of activities, the exchange of information (e.g. on recent risk assessment activities or on data collection), the development and implementation of joint projects (e.g. scientific events and workshops), and the exchange of expertise and best practice in the fields within EFSA s mission. Participation in these networks gave the Pre-Accession experts opportunity to share their experience and difficulties in the work with experts from the same field and to extend the network of people with experience in the same field. Experts gained the access for almost all network workspaces which is a valuable source of information and scientific documents. 190 participants from the Candidate countries have participated in 55 EFSA meetings (EFSA s Advisory Forum, Advisory Forum Working Group on Communication, Focal Points and EFSA s scientific networks meetings as observes from the Pre-Accession authorities) dealing with the technical/scientific issues of relevance for the beneficiary countries. 34 participants from the Potential Candidate countries have participated in 13 EFSA meetings. 5. Participation in other EFSA s events (Trainings for data exchange, crises exercise and EFSA s scientific colloquias and conferences) As a follow up of the Workshop on Data Collection and Analysis activities, EFSA organised one Training on Zoonoses Web Reporting Application, a web tool that facilitates the submission of data on zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and food-borne outbreaks from Member States. The data are submitted by the Member States and other reporting countries in accordance with Directive 2003/99/EC. In order to share experience and knowledge, plan and practice on how to respond to possible emergency situations and how to work with the Pre-Accession countries in case of emergencies, EFSA involved representatives from these countries in two crisis preparedness exercises on Rapid Risk Assessment and data collection during food and feed safety crises. EFSA s role in such a situation is to provide scientific and technical support to risk managers and to communicate about its findings. Pre-Accession scientific experts participated in 5 EFSA`s scientific colloquia and conferences with the aim to better understand fundamental scientific issues related to risk assessment of food and feed safety. The total number of participants in these events was 27 from the Candidate countries and 11 from the Potential Candidate countries. 6. Translation into Pre-Accession languages EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN

11 In order to reach a wider community in the Pre-Accession countries EFSA corporate materials were translated in the Pre-Accession languages: corporate brochure and a video about EFSA and risk communication guidelines. In addition, the guideline document on food consumption data collection and the methodology used in national dietary surveys was translated to the languages of Pre-Accession countries allowed 6 to participate in EFSA s EU menu project. 7. EFSA staff visits to the Pre-Accession countries The Programme team visited the coordinating institutions in the Pre-Accession countries on several occasions during the project implementation. Meetings were organised with the aim to: discuss the newest developments in EFSA and in the national food safety system; introduce the newly appointed coordinators and other relevant staff with the Programme activities, methods of implementation and developments so far in cooperation with EFSA and the authorities in question; to take part in the selection procedure for the hiring of new Assistant coordinators. The Programme team and other experts from EFSA, took part in a number of Pre-Accession national and regional events (such as TAIEX, food safety conferences) to present EFSAs work and role in general and specific scientific work and methodology in different areas under the remit of EFSA. 8. Participation in EU Agencies network (EU Agencies with the Pre-Accession and ENP programmes) The aim of this informal network is to allow agencies to exchange experiences, best practice and updates on EU Pre-Accession and European Neighbourhood programmes. Programme team took part in 2 meetings of the EU agencies network, in one as the organiser. The informal EU agencies network tried to highlight difficulties encountered with the programmes and to share these experiences with the responsible Commission services. 9. Final meeting In order to discuss the outcomes from the Programme and activities under the new Programme the final meeting was organised in September 2014 with the National coordinators and ACs and with participation of the desk officer in DG Enlargement. The Programme team presented provisional activities taking into account the feedback from the countries collected in May Representatives from the countries gave an update on the national risk assessment developments: changes in the national legislation (institutions responsible for the risk assessments), available capacities at national level (expertise, tools, and data) and their future plans. This information was used for the finalisation of foreseen activities in next Programme. A representative from the EC gave an overview on the new IPA II ( ) Regulation and its implications for the Pre-Accession programmes. The update on EFSA EU menu project was presented and discussed with the countries, specifically those allowed to participate in it. The final meeting was followed by a Technical meeting with the ACs on their future tasks. DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTER AND MEASURES TAKEN TO OVERCOME IT One of the main difficulties was a frequent change of contact points due to unpredictable political development/change in the beneficiary s countries. Measures were undertaken in order to ensure the same level of cooperation with the new contact points such as organisation of meetings/training either 6 Albania, FYR of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN

12 in EFSA or in the beneficiary s institution, with the aim to introduce the new staff with the Programme activities, methods of implementation and developments in cooperation with EFSA and the authorities in question. Due to a restricted availability of a scientific community with specific expertise in a number of beneficiary s countries, it was difficult to have the right expert for a specific topic. Therefore the project team in cooperation with the National coordinators and ACs, requested the experts CVs and reacted where needed. As a result of the need to prolong the Programme duration until the end of September 2014, the Pre- Accession participation in EFSA meetings was prioritised. At the same time it became necessary not to provide interpretation for trainings, seminars and workshops. This was discussed with the national coordinators in the beneficiary countries and they agreed to these changes and made sure that the participants in the seminars and workshops were sufficiently fluent in English. For EFSA meetings where the Programme was not been able to fund their participation, some countries were able to fund the participation themselves. In total 24 participants have been funded by the national authorities to attend 17 EFSA s meetings during the Programme implementation. CHANGES INTRODUCED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION Two amendments to the Programme contract were made with the aim to prolong the Programme duration in order to prevent discontinuation. This was due to information received from the European Commission that the next Programme would probably be delayed to autumn The amendment did not affect the basic purpose of the programme, but it allowed continuation of the programme implementation and cooperation with the countries and diminished the gap between two Programmes which could damage the cooperation and relations with the countries. CONCLUSIONS EFSA is working with the Pre-Accession countries to promote the understanding of the Authority s work, share expertise and create information exchange mechanisms. These activities cover the full range of EFSA s remit and EFSA is committed to continue supporting the EC in delivering these objectives with the aim of strengthening scientific cooperation and networking, as described in EFSA s strategic approach to its international activities and Multi-annual programme on International Scientific Cooperation The main conclusions of the programme are: Croatia became the 28 th Member State in July Croatia s food safety authorities and experts from the Croatian Food Agency (HAH) and other Croatian food safety institutions have been participating in EFSA s Pre-Accession Programme since The joint activities with EFSA have enabled Croatian experts to become familiar with developments in the EU that relate to food safety and to exchange views and opinions with colleagues from EFSA and EU Member States. For example, HAH was already a partner of the EU s Total Diet Studies project, the aim of which was to further improve the quality of exposure assessment data collected across the EU and thus enhance consumer protection measures at EU and national level. In October 2012 HAH organised an international conference to mark World Food Day and the 10th anniversary of the EU Food Law and the establishment of EFSA. Croatia has 18 scientific experts registered on EFSA s Expert Database and two members of HAH staff have worked at EFSA as seconded national experts gaining practical experience of the Authority s work. Through the Pre-Accession Programme, EFSA has built and maintained mechanisms for rapid exchange of information and data with the Pre-Accession authorities. This has enhanced EFSA s ability to identify emerging risks and to support risk assessors and managers in case of emergencies. EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN

13 Through the national networks of food safety organisation and experts in the Pre-Accession countries, awareness of EFSAs work and projects was significantly increased. The Pre- Accession scientific community is now contributing more and taking part in activities from different files of EFSA remit (EFSA WGs, EFSA Scientific Panel and Committee, participation in different scientific EFSA s project). Induction trainings in risk assessment in different food safety areas were developed and implemented with the aim to increase the risk assessment capacity in the Pre-Accession countries. Replies to evaluation questionnaires showed that participants significantly improved their knowledge on the practical implementation of the risk assessment methodologies. The trainings material were also shared with the Focal Points from the Member States and contact points from the European neighborhood countries in order to support their efforts in preparation of the national initiatives for Risk assessment capacity building. Based on a questionnaire that was sent to all beneficiary countries on their work on data collection, EFSA received a comprehensive overview of the Pre-Accession countries work on data collection at national level. Report on Data Collection and Analysis Activities in the Pre- Accession Countries was prepared by EFSA and shared on the Information Exchange Platform (IEP). Through these programmes EFSA gained knowledge on work and implementation of externally funded projects and how to attract external resources. Thanks to the Programme, the competent authorities and scientific community from the beneficiary countries were well introduced with EFSAs working methodologies, role and tasks as the reference point for risk assessment in the European food safety system. This helped them to establish and improve their own food safety systems, as the Programme increased the risk assessment capacity by providing a number of training/workshops and seminars on the principles and methods of the food safety risk assessment in different fields. The Programme provided the opportunity to extend the network of people with experience in the same field, and to share data and risk assessment methodologies, which has proved to be valuable to all involved parties. The continuation of the cooperation between EFSA and the Pre-Accession countries, under the new Pre-Accession programme (kick off in March 2015), was discussed and agreed at the Final meeting organised with the National coordinators and ACs. EFSA will further work to build on the progress made with the Programme in recent years and will continue to involve the Pre-Accession countries in its work. In order to increase the risk assessment capacity in the Pre-Accession countries, EFSA will continue to provide training courses on the principles and methods of the food safety risk assessment in the different fields. Future activities will also be focusing on the improvement of collaboration between EFSA and the Pre-Accession countries and the visibility of EFSA and the Pre-Accession Programme in these countries. BUDGET EXECUTION The EFSA Pre-Accession programme is externally funded by the EU budget earmarked for enlargement, and EFSA cooperates with DG ENLARGE in the Commission on all related budget matters. EFSA has executed 942, = 94.74% of the funds received for the Programme. EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN

14 APPENDICES Appendix A. List of the coordinating institutions for the Programme in the Pre-accession countries Country Institution Website Albania Bosnia Herzegovina Croatia and FYR of Macedonia Montenegro Albanian National Food Authority Autoriteti Kombëtar i Ushqimit Food Safety Agency B&H Agencija za sigurnost hrane Croatian Food Agency Hrvatska agencija za hranu Food and Veterinary Agency Агенција за храна и ветеринарство Ministry of health Ministarstvo zdravlja me/ministarstvo Kosovo Serbia Turkey Kosovo Food and Veterinary Agency Agjencia e Ushqimit dhe Veterinarisë Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management Министарство пољопривреде, трговине и вбодопривреде Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock T.C. Gıda, Tarım ve Hayvancılık Bakanlığı Gıda EFSA supporting publication 2015: EN