Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Process. Minutes of the 156th Meeting held on the 16th of January 2023

These minutes are subject to confirmation by the Committee. 

Members are required to declare any personal interest in matters under discussion. Where Members have a particularly close association with any item, the Chairman 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.

Minutes of the 156th meeting of the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, held on 16th of January 2023 online on Microsoft Teams (online & dial in) as a virtual meeting.

Attendance 

Committee Chair

 Dr Camilla Alexander-White

Committee Members

Dr Anton Alldrick

Ms Alison Austin

Dr Mark Berry

Professor Dimitris Charalampopoulos

Professor Susan Fairweather-Tait

Professor Paul Fraser

Dr Hamid Ghoddusi

Dr Andy Greenfield

Professor Wendy Harwood

Professor Huw Jones

Dr Ray Kemp

Professor Clare Mills

Professor Harry McArdle

Dr Maureen Wakefield

Dr Lesley Stanley

Prof Hans Verhagen

Professor Bruce Whitelaw

Professor Alastair Macrae - Co-opted Member

Professor Pete Lund - Co-opted Member

Apologies

Dr Elizabeth Lund - Member

Mrs Rebecca McKenzie - Member

Observers FSA

Ms Julie Pierce - FSA Director of Information and Science

Professor Rick Mumford - FSA Head of Science Evidence and Research

Mr Chris Stockdale - Head of GM Policy

Mr Hoa Chang - FSA GM Policy Advisor

Justine Gallie - FSA GT Policy Advisor

Jamie Luck - FSA Senior Policy Manager

Ms Chloe Jackson - Senior Communications Manager

Ms Sharon Thompson - Novel Foods & Feed Additives Policy Advisor

Ms Sophie Burder - Novel Foods Policy Officer

Observers Devolved administration

Mr Andrew Dodd - Policy, FSA Wales

Mr Lloyd Evans - Policy, FSA Wales

Ms Colleen Mulrine - Policy, FSA NI

Mr Ciaran Weir - Policy, FSA NI

Ms Siobhan Watt - Food Standards Scotland

Ms Krystle Boss - Food Standards Scotland

Ms Lucy Smythe - Food Standards Scotland

Ms Georgina Finch - Food Standards Scotland

Dr Karen Pearson - Food Standards Scotland

Ms Tamara Satmarean - Food Standards Scotland

 Mr Joshua Evans - Food Standards Scotland

Observers (External)

Mr Martin Cannell - Defra Representative and ACRE Secretariat

Secretariat

Mrs Ruth Willis - Technical Secretary

Dr Karin Heurlier - Science Secretariat

Dr Rachael Oakenfull - Science Secretariat

Mr Will Smith - Science Secretariat       

Dr Elli Amanatidou - Science Secretariat                

Mrs Afielia Choudhry - Science Secretariat

Dr Andrew Hartley - Science Secretariat

Mr Matt Hall - Science Secretariat 

Dr Annalisa Leone - Science Secretariat

Mr Rhys Williams - Science Secretariat

Ms Katie Schultz - Science Secretariat         

Mr Ben Haynes - Science Secretariat

Mr Nathan Allen - Science Secretariat

Miss Jenny Rees - Science Secretariat

Ms Shila Sultana - Science Secretariat

Mr Liam Blacklock - Science Secretariat

Miss Victoria Balch - Administrative Secretariat 

1. Apologies and Announcements

Dr Elizabeth Lund and Mrs Rebecca McKenzie sent their apologies for non-attendance.

The Chair welcomed the Members, representatives from the FSA, the observers from the devolved administrations and the Secretariat team. Professor Alastair Macrae, newly co-opted as a veterinary expert on the ACNFP Products of Genetic Technologies (PGT) Subcommittee, was welcomed for his first attendance in a plenary session of ACNFP.

Professor Bruce Whitelaw declared a conflict of interest by the way of holding a University of Edinburgh Commercialisation Licence with Genus plc regarding PRRSV-resistant pigs; this was noted and it was agreed that if this particular case study was discussed, Professor Whitelaw would not be allowed to comment or provide an opinion on the case.

Shouldn't it just be "declared an interest"? It's then up to the Chair and Secretariat to decide whether it gives rise to a conflict and how it should be dealt with.

the licence is held by UOE and I benefit from it - so the wording is not absolutely clear. Perhaps "... a conflict of interest as the University of Edinburgh holds a Commercialisation Licence with Genus plc regarding PRRSV-resistant pigs; this was ..." I seek you guidance on whether further wording indicating that i benefit from this licence is required. If needed I am happy to help draft.

2. Matters Arising from the last meeting

ACNFP/156/MA

The Secretariat reported on the actions from the previous meeting:

• The Committee previously held a workshop on Precision Bred Organisms and published an initial statement on the approach to the discussion on the development of a framework and regulation of these organisms. Following the previous ACNFP workshop in November, the PGT Subcommittee held two meetings on the 21^st of November 2022 and 19th of December 2022 to develop a proposed approach to the scientific assessment of PBOs for ACNFP input and review. A draft statement was produced by the Secretariat on the outcomes of the discussion to date which was circulated for review ahead of this meeting. This formed the basis of the workshop under item 4.
• The Secretariat informed Members that all other matters arising, and minutes, will be covered in the next ACNFP 157^th meeting on the 7th of February 2023.

3. Item for information – Precision Breeding Framework Policy Update

Oral

The Committee was provided with an oral update from FSA Policy team on the progress of the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill in parliament, in particular, expected timings for the Royal Assent, and on the FSA Board engagement.  

Officials requested that the Committee consider what is a reasonable expectation for the September Board meeting, in terms of further statements on the scientific advice for the development of the Precision Breeding Framework.

The Committee requested a written update to follow with respect to the anticipated FSA process for the year ahead.

4. Workshop on Precision Bred Organisms - (Reserved Business)

ACNFP/156/01

The ACNFP reviewed a draft statement summarising the PGT Subcommittee’s views on the criteria that would justify scrutiny or assessment of Precision Bred Organisms in a tiered approach to safety assessment. The Subcommittee members confirmed that the draft represented their consensus position, following the PGT workshops in 2022.  The ACNFP Committee thanked the PGT subcommittee for their technical input on this matter, so as to reach the point of having a document in a timely way for ACNFP review. The ACNFP were supportive of the general proposals and conclusions in the statement and suggested some further clarifying amendments to the text prior to its submission into the FSA publications process. It was agreed that the draft statement would be circulated one more time to Members for a final review, once the edits from this review process were incorporated and prior to publication.

Date of next meeting

The next hybrid meeting of the ACNFP committee is scheduled for 7^th and 8^th February 2023.