Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Process. Minutes of the 166th meeting held on 1st May 2024
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Skip the menu of subheadings on this page.These minutes are subject to Committee clearance.
Members are required to declare any personal interest in matters under discussion. Where Members have a particularly close association with any item, the Chair will limit their involvement in the discussion. In cases where an item is to be discussed in their absence, a member may make a statement before leaving.
Attendance
Committee Chair
Dr Camilla Alexander-White Chair
Committee Members
Dr Anton Alldrick
Ms Alison Austin
Professor George Bassel
Dr Mark Berry
Professor Dimitris Charalampopoulos
Dr Meera Cush
Professor Susan Fairweather-Tait
Dr Sophie Foley
Professor Paul Fraser
Dr Hamid Ghoddusi
Dr Andy Greenfield
Professor Wendy Harwood
Professor Huw D Jones
Dr Elizabeth Lund
Professor Harry McArdle
Mrs Rebecca McKenzie
Professor Clare Mills
Dr Lesley Stanley
Professor Hans Verhagen
Dr Maureen Wakefield
Professor Bruce Whitelaw
Associate Members
Dr Kimon-Andreas Karatzas
Dr Antonio Peña-Fernández
Co-Opted Members
Professor Peter Lund PGT
Professor Alastair Macrae PGT
Apologies
Dr Christine Bosch - Associate Member
Dr Cathrina Edwards
Dr Ray Kemp
Dr Lynn McIntyre
Dr Isabel Skypala
Observers FSA
Mr Chris Rundle Head of Regulated Products Risk Assessment
Mr Chris Stockdale Head of Genetic Technology Policy
Mrs Rebecca Lamb Head of Policy Priorities Unit
Observers Defra
Dr Louise Ball Defra
Dr Martin Cannell Defra
Mr Mike Ellis Defra
Observers Devolved Administrations
Mr Xose Alvarez Policy, FSA Wales
Dr Karen Pearson Science, FSS
Secretariat FSA
Mrs Ruth Willis Technical Secretary
Dr Rachael Oakenfull Technical Secretary - PGT Subcommittee
Dr Karin Heurlier - Science Secretariat
Dr Rhys Williams - Science Secretariat
Dr Annalisa Leone - Science Secretariat
Ms Lucy Thursfield - Science Secretariat
Mr Liam Blacklock - Science Secretariat
Ms Victoria Balch - Administrative Secretariat
1. Apologies and Announcements
Apologies were received from Drs Christine Bosch, Cathrina Edwards, Ray Kemp, Lynn McIntyre, and Isabel Skypala who were unable to attend. To note, they provided comments on the draft Precision Breeding (PB) technical guidance (ACNFP166/01 Annex B) ahead of the meeting.
2. Welcome
The Chair welcomed the Members, the representatives from the FSA and from Defra, the observers from the devolved administrations and the Secretariat team. The Chair reminded Members of the need to announce any potential conflicts of interests prior to the discussion.
3. Matters Arising
The Chair informed the Members that minutes of the previous meeting will be reviewed at the next regular meeting in June. The 167th meeting would also provide an opportunity to receive policy updates on novel foods and GM.
4. Workshop on Precision Bred Organisms (Reserved Business)
It was explained to the ACNFP that the FSA science team wrote the Draft PBO Technical Guidance document to a tight deadline in order for it to be developed in time to support the Statutory Instrument on plant PBOs going through Parliament. ACNFP Members provided independent scientific expert review of the Draft PBO Technical Guidance, which is intended for use by applicants seeking authorisation of PBOs for marketing for food and feed use. The Draft PBO Technical Guidance was circulated, and Members provided comments ahead of the meeting.
It was explained to the ACNFP that the intention is for applicants to self-triage their own applications as either being in Tier 1 or Tier 2. Concerns were raised over the FSA delegating to applicants the responsibility of the initial safety assessment and of assigning their applications correctly to Tier 1 or Tier 2. Members suggested based on their experience in food safety that a rigorous and transparent audit would need to be developed for the process to be credible for stakeholders. It was noted that an audit process is under development. While not a specific area for input in the workshop, the views of Members on this aspect were noted and shared with policy colleagues to inform work in this area.
Members were asked to identify whether the draft provides appropriate guidance to enable applicants to self-triage, and sufficient basis for Tier 2 safety review. Members provided recommendation on where the text needed clarification.
The technical review of the draft had identified where changes were required related to data requirements for the self-assessment of nutrition, toxicity and allergenicity by applicants using the guidance, and to data to be provided by applicant for the assessment of Tier 2 PBOs. These were then explored further during the meeting.
Members were further asked to provide specific feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of the draft Technical Guidance. Members were favourable to the content of the draft, but acknowledged it was a complex and substantial document, and the layout could be improved to enhance risk communication.
The Secretariat confirmed all the feedback received would be considered in revising the draft, and Members would be contacted individually by correspondence where expert advice on specific specialisms was needed to further refine the draft.
Members acknowledged that the Chair would review the revised version of the draft technical guidance to ensure the input of the Committee’s peer review of the document had been accurately captured.
Action: The Secretariat to review the feedback provided by The Committee and make amendments to the draft Technical Guidance before seeking final input by Chair.
5. Any Other Business
The next meeting of the ACNFP will be held as a hybrid meeting on 12th June 2024.