Calls for experts

WHO have established rosters of experts from which individuals would be selected to serve at expert meetings such as JECFA and Joint FAO/WHO Meeting on Pesticide Residues (JMPR). In order to establish rosters, WHO issue calls for applications, which describe the essential qualifications of the applicants, selection procedures for the roster and other relevant information. The selection of members is made after a careful consideration of the scientific credentials of the various candidates, and a balance of scientific expertise and other experience is considered essential. The roster is dynamic and experts are placed on it for an initial period of five years.

WHO places great value to the technical qualification and independence of the participating experts as well as to the transparency of its selection process. Therefore, WHO has developed procedures for selecting experts assuring that transparency, excellence and independence of opinions is provided. Procedures for the work of JECFA, JMPR and other expert committees as well as the process for the selection of experts are both contained in the FAO/WHO framework for the provision of scientific advice on food safety.

For participation in JECFA and JMPR, WHO and FAO have complementary functions in selecting experts. WHO is responsible for selecting members to perform the toxicological evaluations of the substances under consideration. Both WHO and FAO invite members who are responsible for assessing the dietary exposure. FAO is responsible for selecting members to develop specifications for the identity and purity of food additives, develop specifications for the identity of contaminants in food, to perform assessments of residue of veterinary drugs in food and to review analytical aspects of the pesticides.