The World Health Organization (WHO) is seeking experts to serve as members of the Trans Fat Elimination Technical Advisory Group (TFATAG). This “Call for Experts” notice provides information about the advisory group in question, the expert profiles being sought, the process to express interest, and the process of selection.
Background
The WHO Trans Fat Elimination Technical Advisory Group (TFATAG) is the principal advisory group to the World Health Organization (WHO) that makes recommendations to WHO on the granting of the WHO Validation certificate.
Consumption of trans-fatty acids (TFA) is associated with coronary heart disease and related mortality. In 2018, WHO set the elimination of industrially produced TFA as a priority target to be achieved by 2023 as part of the targets for its 13th General Programme of Work and released the REPLACE action framework for TFA elimination as a roadmap for country actions. Subsequently WHO issued six REPLACE modules in 2019 to provide practical, step-by-step implementation guidance to Member States to eliminate industrially produced TFA from their national food supplies and to replace them with healthier oils and fats.
Health benefits of TFA elimination policies will only be attained when policies are effectively and sustainably implemented and industrially produced TFA is eliminated from national food supplies. A process to evaluate and validate the status of Member States in their efforts to eliminate industrially produced TFA is therefore essential to establishing accountability and accelerating progress.
The WHO Validation Programme for Trans Fat Elimination will recognize Member States having a normative framework in place to eliminate industrially produced TFA from national food supplies by granting them a WHO Validation certificate of Trans Fat Elimination. Against this background, WHO establishes the TFATAG with a view to ensuring independence, scientific rigor and transparency in making judgment as to the granting of the WHO Validation certificate.
Functions of the TFATAG
- to review and evaluate the applications submitted by Member States for the granting of the WHO Validation certificate, including any supporting documentation; and
- to provide recommendations to WHO on whether to grant the WHO Validation certificate to applicant Member States.
All recommendations from the TFATAG are advisory to WHO, which retains unfettered control over any subsequent decisions made or actions taken on any recommendations, proposals, policy issues or other matters considered by the TFATAG.
Operations of the TFATAG
1. The TFATAG will normally hold one meeting per year, in-person or through teleconferences and/or videoconferences. The frequency of in-person meetings may be adjusted, as deemed necessary by WHO. WHO may convene additional meetings, including through teleconferences and/or videoconferences, on an ad hoc basis, as required.
2. TFATAG meetings may be held in open and/or closed sessions, as decided by WHO:
- Open sessions: these provide an opportunity for TFATAG to interact with applicants. Observers may also be invited to attend. Only non-confidential information is permitted to be discussed at such sessions whereas TFATAG recommendations or advice shall not be made or discussed.
- Closed sessions: these are to address matters that may include review of applications and formulation of recommendations or advice to WHO. Only TFATAG members and relevant WHO Secretariat staff can attend closed sessions.
3. Two-thirds of the TFATAG members shall constitute a quorum, either in person or through teleconference and/or videoconference. TFATAG recommendations to WHO will, as a rule, be taken by consensus. In the exceptional situation that consensus on a particular issue cannot be reached, the majority and minority view will be reflected in the report of the meeting.
4. Meetings will normally be conducted in English. Interpretation into a WHO official language other than English may be provided, subject to the availability of resources, and if requested by one or more of the TFATAG members in writing at least six weeks before the opening of the meeting. All TFATAG documentation, including TFATAG reports and working documents, will normally be provided in English.
5. WHO may, at its sole discretion, invite external individuals from time to time to attend the open sessions of the TFATAG, or parts thereof, as “observers”. Observers may be invited either in their personal capacity, or as representatives from a governmental institution / intergovernmental organization, or from a non-state actor. WHO will request observers invited in their personal capacity to complete a confidentiality undertaking and a declaration of interest form prior to attending a session of the advisory group. Invitations to observers attending as representatives from non-state actors will be subject to internal due diligence and conflict of interest considerations in accordance with the WHO Framework of Engagement with non-State actors. Observers invited as representatives may also be requested to complete a confidentiality undertaking. Observers shall normally attend meetings of the TFATAG at their own expense and be responsible for making all arrangements in that regard. At the invitation of the Chair, observers may be asked to present their personal views and/or the policies of their organization. Observers will not participate in the process of adopting decisions and recommendations of the TFATAG.
Who can express interest?
The TFATAG will be multidisciplinary, with members having a range of technical knowledge, skills and experience relevant to TFA elimination. Up to 12 members will be selected.
WHO welcomes expressions of interest from individuals with knowledge, skills and experience in:
- food and nutrition science
- food technology
- food laboratory science
- food control and regulations
- nutrition epidemiology
- food and nutrition policy
Submitting your expression of interest
To register your interest in being considered for the TFATAG members, please submit the following documents by 23:59h Geneva time on 2 December 2022 to NFS@who.int using the subject line “Expression of interest for the TFATAG”.
- A cover letter (maximum 2 pages), indicating your motivation to apply and outlining how you satisfy the selection criteria. Please note that, if selected, membership will be in a personal capacity. Therefore, do not use the letterhead or other identification of your employer.
- Your curriculum vitae (CV) (maximum 5 pages);
- A list of peer-reviewed publications; and
- A signed and completed Declaration of Interests (DOI) form for WHO Experts, available here.
After submission, your expression of interest will be reviewed by WHO. Due to an expected high volume of applications, only selected individuals will be informed.
Important information about the selection processes and conditions of appointment
Members of WHO technical advisory groups (TAGs) must be free of any real, potential or apparent conflicts of interest. To this end, applicants are required to complete the WHO Declaration of Interests for WHO Experts, and the selection as a member of a TAG is, amongst other things, dependent on WHO determining that there is no conflict of interest or that any identified conflicts could be appropriately managed (in addition to WHO’s evaluation of an applicant’s experience, expertise and motivation and other criteria).
All TAG members will serve in their individual expert capacity and shall not represent any governments, any commercial industries or entities, any research, academic or civil society organizations, or any other bodies, entities, institutions or organizations. They are expected to fully comply with the Code of Conduct for WHO Experts (https://www.who.int/about/ethics/declarations-of-interest). TAG members will be expected to sign and return a completed confidentiality undertaking prior to the beginning of the first meeting.
At any point during the selection process, telephone interviews may be scheduled between an applicant and the WHO Secretariat to enable WHO to ask questions relating to the applicant’s experience and expertise and/or to assess whether the applicant meets the criteria for membership in the relevant TAG.
The selection of members of the TAGs will be made by WHO in its sole discretion, taking into account the following (non-exclusive) criteria: relevant technical expertise; experience in international and country policy work; communication skills; and ability to work constructively with people from different cultural backgrounds and orientations. The selection of TAG members will also take account of the need for diverse perspectives from different regions, especially from low and middle-income countries, and for gender balance.
If selected by WHO, proposed members will be sent an invitation letter and a Memorandum of Agreement. Appointment as a member of a TAG will be subject to the proposed member returning to WHO the countersigned copy of these two documents.
WHO reserves the right to accept or reject any expression of interest, to annul the open call process and reject all expressions of interest at any time without incurring any liability to the affected applicant or applicants and without any obligation to inform the affected applicant or applicants of the grounds for WHO's action. WHO may also decide, at any time, not to proceed with the establishment of the TAG, disband an existing TAG or modify the work of the TAG.
WHO shall not in any way be obliged to reveal, or discuss with any applicant, how an expression of interest was assessed, or to provide any other information relating to the evaluation/selection process or to state the reasons for not choosing a member.
WHO may publish the names and a short biography of the selected individuals on the WHO internet.
TAG members will not be remunerated for their services in relation to the TAG or otherwise. Travel and accommodation expenses of TAG members to participate in TAG meetings will be covered by WHO in accordance with its applicable policies, rules and procedures.
TAG members will serve for an initial period of three years and will be eligible for re-appointment only once for an additional period of three years as indicated in the letter of appointment.
If you have any questions about this “Call for experts”, please write to NFS@who.int well before the applicable deadline.