RESTRICTED - POLICY
FINAL NOTE OF 2ND MEETING OF THE CHEMICAL HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND
RISK SURVEILLANCE (CHaIRS) GROUP
DATE & TIME: 25 MARCH 2009 AT 2:00PM
VENUE: MEETING HELD VIA TELECONFERENCE1
ATTENDEES
Chris Livesey (Chair)
(CL) Veterinary Laboratories Agency
Jo Payne
(JP)
Veterinary Laboratories Agency
Alison Gleadle
(AG) Food Standards Agency
John Caseley
(JC)
Food Standards Agency
Beth Dunn
(BD) Food Standards Agency
Kara Thomas
(KT) Food Standards Agency
Christina Baskaran
(CB) Food Standards Agency
Chris Mowdesley
(CM) Health and Safety Executive
Ovnair Sepai
(OS) Health Protection Agency
Steve Wyllie
(SW) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
David Harris
(DH) Animal Health
Alison Gowers
(AG) Environment Agency
Ian Pengelly
(IP)
Health and Safety Laboratory
WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS
1. CL welcomed attendees to the meeting. Apologies were received from Martin
Rose (Central Science Laboratory), David Webb (Veterinary Medicines
Directorate), and Chris Pidgeon (Pesticide Safety Directorate).
MATTERS ARISING
2. JC provided a verbal update on matters arising from the last CHaIRS Group
meeting, as follows:
At the last meeting, on 2 December, there was an action for the Food Standards
Agency (FSA) to discuss further with the Environment Agency (EA) what could be
done to strengthen notification procedures between the two departments. FSA has
not lost sight of this action and will over the coming weeks and months be revisiting
the existing SLA2 and discussing both internally and with the EA the most effective
ways of ensuring that it is promptly notified of incidents of relevance to the Agency
(i.e with potential food safety implications). There is no further action for the group
on this issue.
Another action from the previous meeting was for Defra to put CHaIRS on the
agenda of the next UK Zoonoses, Animal Diseases and Infections Group (UKZADI)
meeting. SW confirmed that the next UKZADI meeting is being held on 14 May
2009 and that CHaIRS will be on the agenda. Members agreed that a paper
briefing would be sufficient, however if there are any particular issues for
discussion at future meetings then a representative from the CHaIRS group could
1 Teleconference held in the Incidents Room, Aviation House.
2 Signed May 2007
1
attend. It was agreed that Papia Khanom (Defra) would be provided with briefing
from FSA two weeks prior to the UKZADI meeting.
Action: Beth Dunn (FSA)
Finally, since the last meeting, the FSA’s Food Safety Group has begun a
restructuring process which is likely to continue until June 2009. This, together with
the departure of Nick Tomlinson3, led to the decision to have VLA chair the
meeting, for continuity reasons, until the restructuring process is complete, when
we can review the situation again. CL thanked Nick Tomlinson for his support in
setting up the group and chairing the first meeting.
REVISED TERMS OF REFERENCE
3. JC introduced this agenda item, explaining that the revised ToR was sent to
members on 18 March. This takes into consideration comments made by
members at the last CHaIRS meeting. For example, references to additional costs
have been taken out, as per instructions from the group. Also the ToR clarifies
what the current reporting requirements are and updates the membership.
4. SW questioned whether the first line of the risk assessment section of the ToR
should be amended to reflect that agencies/departments are responsible for risk
assessments and risk management in the areas for which they have lead
responsibility. This was agreed. CL confirmed that the ToR will be amended
accordingly and added that this document can be amended as necessary, in the
light of experience.
Action: John Caseley (FSA)
DISSEMINATION OF VLA INCIDENT REPORTS
5. CL introduced this agenda item proposing that, subject to members’ approval, the
reporting of suspected chemical contamination and poisoning incidents by VLA to
participating departments within the CHaIRS Group, begins forthwith. This will
ensure that departments/agencies are suitably joined up during these incidents
and are all alerted at the same time.
6. AG queried whether the members of the group will be the designated email
contacts. It was confirmed that this would not necessarily be the case and
members can nominate more appropriate email addresses. It was agreed that the
number of email addresses per department/agency would be limited to a maximum
of two contacts, who can then cascade as necessary to others or regional teams.
7. CL confirmed that there are on average 100 notifications from VLA per year, and
all initial notifications would be circulated to all CHaIRS email contacts for
information only. Follow up notifications for each incident would not be circulated
to CHaIRS contacts unless individuals specifically contact Jo Payne (VLA) to
request receiving them. KT advised that input is not expected from CHaIRS
members and that this is sent for information only. The Agency provides
information on food safety issues, and if all CHaIRS members were to comment
this would affect the response time in handling incidents and could potentially lead
to contaminated/unsafe food on the market.
3 Former Head of the FSA’s Food Protection Division
2
8. Members agreed to provide John Caseley with the relevant email addresses that
notifications should be sent to by close of play on Friday 27 March.
Action: All
FORWARD WORK PLAN
9. JC introduced this item, proposing that the Secretariat draw up a forward work plan
for the group to include suitable items for discussion/further work over the coming
financial year. Items suggested at the last meeting included arsenic surveillance,
stemming from the recent Goongumpas incident in Cornwall, and future research
on PFOS, in the light of the 2005 Buncefield incident. In addition, members
suggested another item worth discussing would be the use of recycled material as
animal bedding e.g. ash. It was agreed that all of these items would be discussed
at future meetings, with arsenic surveillance as a priority. In addition, it was agreed
that FSA would provide a briefing note on each issue prior to discussion at future
CHaIRS meetings.
Action: John Caseley (FSA)
10. Members agreed to submit any further suggestions for future work over the coming
financial year to John Caseley by the end of April 2009.
Action: All
AOB
11. AG requested clarification as to what level of input there will be into the group from
other areas e.g. COT. CL confirmed that others will be included as necessary
depending on the issues being discussed.
12. KT
queried
whether
any
joint
surveillance
is
planned
between
departments/agencies. Members agreed that there may be cases where this
would be beneficial and this should be another area to discuss at the next meeting.
DATE, VENUE AND FORMAT OF NEXT MEETING
13. CL confirmed that the next meeting was originally scheduled for 10 June 2009 but
due to the unavailability of key officials will now be postponed until later in the
summer. The Secretariat will be in contact with members in the coming weeks to
arrange a date.
Action: Beth Dunn (FSA)
Beth Dunn
CHaIRS Secretariat
March 2009
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