The need to have promptly a sound a

The need to have promptly a sound and reliable scientific consultancy in a sector that is getting more and more innovative and technological, is heavily weighing on the European system of the scientific committees in charge of devising specific views. The Community legislation makes use more and more of scientific evaluations designed to protect the European population. In the food sector such a task is charged to the scientific committees established by Commission decision No 97/579/CEE2, that sets up the scientific committees in the field of consumers’ health and food safety, and decision No 97/404/CEE3 that establishes a steering scientific committee. This growing need has inevitably enlarged the system, both in terms of the committees’ ability to assess the safety of scientific papers and for the evaluation of more general issues relating public health.