We Need Your Help! Please Read and Act Now! January 11, 2005
FAO/WHO Nutrient Risk Assessment Project
already exhibits a worrying lack of
transparency
An announcement concerning a joint Nutrient Risk Assessment
Project was
issued earlier this year by the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the
United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The goal of
the project is supposedly to define a “scientifically-based
and
internationally applicable approach for nutrient risk
assessment.”
One of the key parts of the Project is the convening of an
interdisciplinary
technical workshop to develop a scientific model for nutrient
risk
assessment. A “Call for Experts” to take part in this workshop
was recently
made by the FAO/WHO, and it is anticipated that the workshop
will be
scheduled for May 2005.
Why is this important?
Because the FAO and the WHO are the joint administrators of
the Codex
Alimentarius Commission, the results of their nutrient risk
assessment
project will be hugely influential upon the maximum levels to
be set in
connection with the Codex Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral
Food
Supplements.
However, quite aside from the fact that applying risk
assessment models to
dietary supplements is both unnecessary and totally
inappropriate, the
National Health Federation is already very concerned about the
transparency
of the FAO/WHO Nutrient Risk Assessment Project, as there is
currently no
indication as to who, specifically, will be making the
selection of experts
to take part in the workshop.
In order for the Nutrient Risk Assessment Project Workshop to
have the
confidence of both the public and the scientific community it
is clearly
essential that the selection of experts to take part in it is
conducted with
the very highest standards of transparency.
We therefore request that anybody who is concerned about
maintaining their
access to dietary supplements should email
FAO-HQ@fao.org and
info@who.int
to request that the FAO and WHO make public the names of the
person or
persons who will be selecting the experts to take part in the
workshop to
develop a scientific model for nutrient risk assessment.
OUR SUGGESTED TEXT FOR YOUR EMAIL TO THE FAO/WHO IS AS
FOLLOWS: (COPY AND
PASTE THIS INTO YOUR EMAIL PROGRAM)
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing to express my concern at the lack of transparency
in the
selection of experts to participate in the FAO/WHO Nutrient
Risk Assessment
Workshop. I note from your website that the selection of
experts will be
made by FAO/WHO, but I have thus far been unable to find any
information
regarding who, specifically, within the FAO and WHO will be
making this
selection.
In order for the Nutrient Risk Assessment Project Workshop to
have the full
confidence of both the public and the scientific community it
is clearly
essential that the selection of experts to take part in it is
conducted with
the very highest standards of transparency.
I therefore request that in the interests of transparency you
make public
the names of the person or persons who will be selecting the
experts to take
part in this workshop.
