The 11th EFFA General Assembly was held in Zurich on 26th of September 2019. Click here to read more about all the updates on regulatory, public affairs and communication.
The 11th EFFA General Assembly was held in Zurich on 26th of September 2019. Click here to read more about all the updates on regulatory, public affairs and communication.
The EFFA President, Antoine Kastler, welcomed the attendees to the EFFA General Assembly, representing National Association and Member Companies. This is a yearly opportunity for the EFFA Secretariat to update the membership on the activities undertaken during the year and discuss next year's projects.
The EFFA General Assembly also had the task to renew the EFFA Board for a next term 2019-2021. It voted unanimously to re-elect Antoine Kastler (Robertet) as EFFA President, Henning Hartnacke (Givaudan) as EFFA Vice-President and Jean Mane (MANE) as Treasurer. Our thanks to all of them on behalf of the EFFA Secretariat and membership.
The EFFA GA also reconfirmed the rest of the EFFA Board members for the term 2019-2021. Thank you to all of them for volunteer for this important role for the association.
Meet the EFFA Board, from left to right: Jean Mane (SNIAA, EFFA Treasurer), Massimo Barbeni (AISPEC), Jean Robello (Firmenich, Past President), Antoine Kastler (Robertet, EFFA President), Henning Hartnacke (Givaudan, EFFA Vice-President), Alexander Mohr (EFFA Executive Director), Dirk-Achim Müller (DVAI), Dirk Bennwitz (Symrise), and Marc van der Duijs (IFF).
EFFA SECRETARIAT
EFFA Executive Director Alexander Mohr updated the Membership on the achievements of this year, a year of many changes in the European Union and also at EFFA. On the EU side, we've had elections at the European Parliament, long discussions on Brexit and also many national elections.
On the EFFA side, we have an enlarged network and scope of work with the addition of a new team member since May and the consolidtion of the Public Affairs pillar.
REGULATORY
Jan Demyttenaere, EFFA's Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Director updated the membership on the various Scientific and Regulatory Affairs activities covering a report of the achievements of the EFFA Core Group and Flavour Expert Committee (FLEX).
The presentation included an update on the (new) EFFA Guidance Documents which have been published this year such as the EFFA GD on the New Organic Regulation and the “Best Practice Guidance Document on plant extracts rich in constituents which can perform both flavouring and additive functions” the EFFA GD on Source Materials, which has been updated to include “novel source materials” and supplemented with a Q&A-document was presented.
An update was also provided on activities related to the enzyme dossiers and the latest status was reported in relation to the EFSA Evaluation programme (including an overview of recently published EFSA opinions) and the current composition of the EU Union List of Flavouring Substances (latest amendments & withdrawals).
The Updated Guidance Document on the EC Regulation on flavourings is now Available.
Order your hard copy here
COMMUNICATION
Cécile Pinel, Chair of the EFFA Communication Working Group (CWG), presented an update on communications, on behalf of Jimena Gomez de la Flor, EFFA Communications Director.
The Flavour Ambassadors campaign was highlighted as an external and internal success. It is a pan-European multimedia project launched by EFFA, being comprised of a series of videos, written interviews and podcasts with professionals from the flavour industry, it aims to explain its processes and showcase the know-how of the highly skilled professionals gathered under the roof of a flavour house.
You can watch the video of the campaign here and follow all the interviews on the EFFA website and Social Media. #FlavourAmbassador #FlavourPro
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
The General Assembly was also the opportunity for the EFFA membership to officially welcome our new Public Affairs Officer, Ms Bo Dohmen who joined the EFFA team this May.
Ms Dohmen, provided an update on the various Public Affairs activities that EFFA has been undertaking since she joined, including a presentation of the new advocacy landscape following the European Elections and the forthcoming European Commission term for 2019-2024. She highlighted the formal establishment of the EFFA Public Affairs Committee (PAC). The PAC is now a fully-fledged committee and thereby the third official pillar of within EFFA.
IOFI
Thierry Cachet, Scientific Director at IOFI (International Organization of the Flavor Industry) did a presentation about IOFI's work this year, unveiling the new Country List Database and giving an update on the IOFI/IFRA Sustainability Initiative.
Jean Mane, EFFA Board Liason for IOFI and IOFI President, gave some concluding remarks thanking the participation of EFFA in the IOFI Committees.
Special Guest Speaker:
European Elections: Outcome & Impact for the Flavour Industry
Following the European Parliament Elections that took place in May, we considered it timely to learn more about the outcome and the potential impact it may have on the European Flavour Industry. We took the opportunity to invite Mr Doru Peter Frantescu, EU affairs and strategic communication expert, to shed more light on this. Mr Frantescu is the CEO and Co-founder of VoteWatch Europe, an independent think tank providing research based on votes in the EU institutions and political development across the EU.