European and international co-operations

Against the backdrop of the increasingly rapid globalisation of the world economy, food, product and chemical safety is an ever more important goal in the European Union.

The range of available food and consumer products in Europe is growing all the time, making it all the more important for European countries and the European Union to be in a position to scientifically assess, minimise and effectively communicate risks in the field of food, products and chemicals.

In the field of food and feed safety, the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment cooperates closely with the External Link:European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). In its capacity as the national Focal Point (External Link:EFSA-Focal-Point), BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment coordinates the exchange of scientific information between the EFSAshort forEuropean Food Safety Authority, the competent authorities in Germany and stakeholders from the business community, political circles, the sciences and consumer associations.

The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment cooperates with numerous national and European sister authorities in the field of consumer health protection, with the emphasis on risk assessment. These activities are creating a network of authorities and institutions in the field of food, product and feed safety, forging links not only between national and European level but also between the institutions in the different member states. In December 2010, for example, the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment signed a co-operation agreement with the French food safety agency External Link:Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail (ANSES) and the External Link:Food Institute of the Danish Tekniske Universitet (DTU). (External Link:Press release "BfR, DTU and Anses enter into co-operation agreement")

In our globalised world, the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment also has good bilateral relations and co-operation agreements with food authorities in many other countries, as food scares are no respecters of national borders. As a result, the intensive exchange of scientific information and co-operation with partner institutions outside the European Union are of paramount importance. And against the backdrop of the free trade agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Korea, scientific exchange with Korea is also increasingly important. Co-operation agreements have therefore been signed with institutions in the Republic of Korea such as the External Link:National Institute of Food & Drug Safety as well as with the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine (CAIQ) and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in China.

The External Link:BfR World Food Safety Almanac website provides an overview of the responsible national authorities and structures for food and feed safety.

Adequate knowledge of and the exchange of information between the various food safety institutions on global, European and national level have become ever more important for consumer protection in recent years.

Institutions like the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), who publish the Codex Alimentarius, and the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) work together on global level.

• World Health Organization (WHO)
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• European Committee for Standardization (Comité Européen de Normalisation (CEN))
• World Organisation for Animal Health (Office International des Epizooties (OIE))
• International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS)
• International Organisation of Vine and Wine (Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV))

Twinning is an EU-funded instrument designed to promote partnerships between authorities in the EU member states and public administration bodies in accession states as well as for potential accession states and countries of the European neighbourhood.

The goal of twinning projects is always to create public structures that are in line with European administrative practices. During these projects, experts from the national German authorities at federal level and from the regional states are seconded to partner countries for up to two years to implement projects with local experts geared towards such things as creating an authority or making the preparations for new legislation.

In recent years, the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has been successfully involved in several twinning projects and handled the coordination of projects focusing on the creation of an institute for risk assessment in the field of food safety. Intensive activities in the country of the twinning partner ensure that scientists are properly trained and help these scientists to implement EU regulations.