EFSA Focal Point Nieuwsbrief 21 maart 2024

Call for tender for technical and scientific support to EFSA training courses on plant pest surveillance for improving crisis preparedness in plant health

Deadline: March 25^th, 2024

EFSA has published a call for tender for the design and development of training materials to be delivered on-line to support EU Member States and Third Countries with the planning and execution of statistically sound pest surveys.

The objective is to design and develop training materials to be delivered on-line to support EU Member States and Third Countries with the planning and execution of statistically sound pest surveys. All the didactical materials and training modules must be developed in line with the most updated general guidelines for statistically sound and risk-based surveys of plant pests.

The budget is 672.000 euro for a maximum duration of 60 months. The deadline to apply is March 25^th, 14:30 CET. More information can be found here.


Call for evidence - evaluation of the European Food Safety Authority

Deadline: April 8^th, 2024

The European Commission has launched a Call for Evidence for the evaluation of EFSA’s operation (2017-2024). The aim is to collect evidence, meaningful information and expert opinions from stakeholders and the wider public to support an in-depth evaluation of EFSA in line with the Commission’s standard evaluation criteria. The deadline to have your say is April 8^th, 2024. This can be done here.


Call for expressions of interest to submit data for 10 non-approved active substances to review MRLs

Deadline: May 7^th, 2024

EFSA is launching a call for expressing interest to provide additional existing toxicological data and addressing the data gaps identified. Only studies finalised by the date of launch of this call of interest and complying with existing data requirements, will be considered eligible for the assessment.

The 10 non-approved substances of interest are:

1. Azocyclotin and cyhexatin, EFSA Journal 2023;21(6):8038
2. Bifenthrin, EFSA Journal 2023;21(3):7864
3. Chlorfenapyr, EFSA Journal 2023;21(12):8444
4. Diazinon, EFSA Journal 2023;21:8426
5. Dicofol, EFSA Journal 2023;21:8425
6. Endosulfan, EFSA Journal 2023;21(7):8114
7. Fenarimol, EFSA Journal 2023;21(7):8113
8. Fenpropathrin, EFSA Journal 2023;21(6):8057
9. Profenofos, EFSA Journal 2023;21:8445

More information can be found here.

EFSA's Veterinary drug residues in animals and foods report is out

March 19^th, 2024

EFSA has recently published the Report for 2022 on the results from the monitoring of veterinary medicinal product residues and other substances in live animals and animal products. 
The report was accompanied by a news story “Veterinary drug residues in animals and foods remain low”.

The main findings of the report are the following:

• Levels of residues from veterinary drugs and other substances found in animals and animal-derived food remain low in the EU.
• In 2022, the percentage of non-compliant samples was 0.18%, which is comparable to the previous 13 years.
• The overall level of non-compliance in targeted samples was 0.27%.

This report is also accompanied by an interactive dashboard.  

Public Consultation on the Draft Scientific Opinion on the use and reporting of historical control data for regulatory studies.

Deadline: April 29^th, 2024

EFSA has opened a public consultation on the Draft Scientific Opinion on the use and reporting of historical control data for regulatory studies.
The deadline to reply with comments is April 29^th. More information can be found here.

Interested parties willing to submit comments to the Public Consultation on the Draft Scientific Opinion on the use and reporting of historical control data for regulatory studies are invited to watch the relevant info session.

Careers opportunity: Senior Science Coordinator

Deadline: April 4^th, 2024

EFSA has opened a position for a Senior Science Coordinator who will work in the Chief Scientist Office, which provides strategic leadership and expertise to achieve EFSA’s scientific strategic goals. The selected candidate will work closely with some of EFSA scientific units in the different regulatory tasks.

More information can be found here.