NEWS RELEASE
Date: 24 July 2008
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New members appointed to veterinary residues committee
Lord Rooker, Minister for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health today announced seven new members to the Veterinary Residues Committee (VRC).
The VRC’s role is to advise the Chief Executives of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the formulation of the residues surveillance programmes and on the significance of the results in terms of consumer safety.
The seven new members who have been appointed to serve on the VRC from January 2009 until December 2012 are:
- Jon Averns (Local Authority) is currently employed as Port Health Services Director by the City of London Corporation in its role as the London Port Health Authority.
- Tim Brigstocke (Agriculture Industry) runs a livestock consultancy business. He is the immediate past Chairman of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF).
- Gill Clare (Food Chemical Safety/Risk Assessment) is a genetic toxicologist, speciality cytogenetics, with a PhD gained in a hospital radiotherapy department.
- Andrew Grant (Fish Farming) is a veterinary graduate (Cambridge 1980). He worked in mixed, mainly agricultural practice for eight years.
- Declan O’Rourke (Pharmaceutical Industry), is a veterinary surgeon and works as an independent consultant in pharmacovigilance and livestock medicine. David Ralph (Feed Industry) comes from an agricultural background and has experience of a range of livestock production systems.
- Michael Roberts (Food Industry) has extensive experience in senior science management in the Research Councils and Defra dealing with a range of issues relating to the food chain and environmental objectives.
The appointments were undertaken in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Notes to Editors
For full biographies of the new members, please contact the Defra Press Office on 020 7238 6007.
The VRC’s terms of reference are:
To advise Ministers (1)(where appropriate) and the Chief Executives of the VMD and the FSA on:
- the incidence and concentrations of residues of veterinary medicines (2) in samples collected under the VMD's surveillance programmes, with particular reference to food safety and observance of withdrawal periods for veterinary medicines. (3)
- to assess and advise on the scope and operation of the VMD statutory surveillance programme within the requirements of European Community legislation
- to formulate an annual non-statutory surveillance programme, advise on the scope and results of relevant FSA surveys and consider the need for further analytical surveys
- to set up sub-groups as necessary to further the work and objectives of the VRC.
- To publish an Annual Report on Veterinary Residues Surveillance,
- and to communicate the VRC's findings and recommendations to Government and stakeholders in a comprehensive, understandable and timely way.
The Ministers referred to are:
(1) The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministers of the Scottish Executive, the National Assembly for Wales and the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Northern Ireland.
(2) In addition to veterinary medicines, surveillance also covers banned substances, heavy metals (lead and cadmium), malachite green, organochlorines (OCs), organophosphates (OPs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
(3) A withdrawal period is the length of time after end of treatment with a veterinary medicine that must pass so that any residues in edible tissues will have depleted to below the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL).
End
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Page published: 24 July 2008