Source:  John Strak, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 12/24/10

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), the French Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail (Anses) and the Food Institute of the Danish Tekniske Universitet (DTU) have signed a cooperation agreement.

The German BfR, the French Anses and the Danish DTU have similar tasks and implement comparable concepts in the field of scientific risk assessment on the basis of active research work. The aim of this German-French-Danish collaboration is to make sure that joint activities in food safety are more effective and efficient than in the past.

"We want to establish a strong network of risk assessment specialists in our institutions to ensure a rapid exchange of scientific findings in Europe", said BfR President Professor Dr. Dr. Andreas Hensel at the signing of the agreement in Copenhagen. "In particular in the event of a food crisis we have to rely on the competency and excellence of our colleagues."

The cooperation agreement permits the development of formal cooperation between BfR, Anses and DTU in scientific risk assessment and research as well as technical and administrative cooperation in these fields. Each institution will set up a working group with three members, which will take over the coordination of the joint activities. These coordination groups will pool expert knowledge in the fields of risk assessment, communication and research as well as science-based risk communication. They are to meet once a year, alternately in Germany, France and Denmark and will suggest joint projects and activities for the next year and evaluate ongoing activities.

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.