EFSA Signs New Focal Point Agreements with Member States in the Hague 

10/12/07 EFSA’s Advisory Forum meets in the Hague on 6-7 December, hosted by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (VWA). On 6 December, EFSA’s Executive Director Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle attended a symposium to mark the VWA’s 5 year anniversary.

The symposium was opened by André van der Zande, Secretary General of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, and included participants from and a wide range of stakeholder organisations representing consumers, regulatory bodies, academia and industry. Kartika Tamara Liotard, member of the European Parliament, also attended. The symposium was concluded by the official signing of a Focal Point agreement between EFSA and VWA.

To further reinforce EFSA’s co-operation with Member States, Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle signed a further set of Focal Point agreements with several Member States including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain. These will be added to the agreements already signed with Belgium, Bulgaria, France, and Italy. These agreements will help implement the Strategy for Co-operation and Networking endorsed by EFSA’s Management Board in December 2006.