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1. The Scientific Committee and permanent Scientific Panels shall be responsible for providing the scientific opinions of the Authority, each within their own spheres of competence, and shall have the possibility, where necessary, of organising public hearings.

2. The Scientific Committee shall be responsible for the general coordination necessary to ensure the consistency of the scientific opinion procedure, in particular with regard to the adoption of working procedures and harmonisation of working methods. It shall provide opinions on multisectoral issues falling within the competence of more than one Scientific Panel, and on issues which do not fall within the competence of any of the Scientific Panels. Where necessary, and particularly in the case of subjects which do not fall within the competence of any of the Scientific Panels, the Scientific Committee shall set up working groups. In such cases, it shall draw on the expertise of those working groups when establishing scientific opinions.

3. The Scientific Committee shall be composed of the Chairs of the Scientific Panels and six independent scientific experts who do not belong to any of the Scientific Panels.

4. The Scientific Panels shall be composed of independent scientific experts. When the Authority is established, the following Scientific Panels shall be set up:

(a) the Panel on food additives and flavourings;

(b) the Panel on additives and products or substances used in animal feed;

(c) the Panel on plant protection products and their residues;

(d) the Panel on genetically modified organisms;

(e) the Panel on nutrition, novel foods and food allergens;

(f) the Panel on biological hazards;

(g) the Panel on contaminants in the food chain;

(h) the Panel on animal health and welfare;

(i) the Panel on plant health;

(j) the Panel on food enzymes;

(k) the Panel on food contact materials. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 57a amending the first subparagraph as regards the number and names of the Scientific Panels, in the light of technical and scientific development, at the Authority’s request.

5. The members of the Scientific Committee who are not members of the Scientific Panels and the members of the Scientific Panels shall be appointed by the Management Board, acting upon a proposal from the Executive Director, for a five-year term of office, which may be renewed, following publication of a call for expression of interest in the Official Journal of the European Union, in relevant leading scientific publications and on the Authority's website. The Authority shall publish such a call for expression of interest after having informed the Member States about the necessary criteria and fields of expertise. The Member States shall:

(a) publish the call for expression of interest on the websites of their competent authorities and of their competent bodies which undertake tasks similar to those of the Authority;

(b) inform relevant scientific organisations located on their territory;

(c) encourage potential candidates to apply; and (d) take any other appropriate measures to support the call for expression of interest.

5a. The members of the Scientific Committee who are not members of Scientific Panels and the members of the Scientific Panels shall be selected and appointed in accordance with the following procedure:

(a) on the basis of the applications received to a call for expression of interest, the Executive Director shall draw up a draft list of suitable candidates including at least twice the number of candidates necessary to fill the posts in the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels and send the draft list to the Management Board, indicating the specific multidisciplinary expertise needed in each Scientific Panel;

(b) on the basis of that draft list, the Management Board shall appoint the members of the Scientific Committee who are not members of the Scientific Panels and the members of the Scientific Panels and draw up the reserve list of candidates for the scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels;

(c) the selection procedure and the appointments of the members of the Scientific Committee who are not members of the Scientific Panels and the members of the Scientific Panels shall be made on the basis of the following criteria:

(i) a high level of scientific expertise;

(ii) independence and absence of conflict of interests in accordance with Article 37(2) and the Authority's independence policy and implementation of that policy in respect of the members of the Scientific Panels;

(iii) meeting the needs for the specific multi-disciplinary expertise of the Scientific Panel to which they will be appointed and the applicable language regime;

(d) where candidates have equivalent scientific expertise, the Management Board shall ensure that the broadest possible geographical distribution is achieved in the appointments.

5b. When the Authority identifies that specific expertise is missing in one or several Scientific Panels, the Executive Director shall propose to the Management Board, in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraphs 5 and 5a, the appointment of additional members of the relevant Scientific Panels.

5c. The Management Board shall adopt, on the basis of a proposal of the Executive Director, rules on the detailed organisation and timing of the procedures set up in paragraphs 5a and 5b.

5d. Member States and employers of the members of the Scientific Committee and of the Scientific Panels shall refrain from giving those members, or the external experts participating in the working groups of the Scientific Committee or the Scientific Panels, any instruction which is incompatible with the individual tasks of those members and experts, or with the tasks, responsibilities and independence of the Authority.

5e. The Authority shall support the tasks of the Scientific Committee and Scientific Panels by organising their work, in particular the preparatory work to be undertaken by the Authority's staff or by designated national scientific organisations referred to in Article 36, including by organising the possibility for preparing scientific opinions to be peer-reviewed by the Scientific Panels before they adopt them.

5f. Each Scientific Panel shall include a maximum of 21 members.

5g. Members of Scientific Panels shall have access to comprehensive training on the risk assessment.

6. The Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels shall each choose a Chair and two Vice-Chairs from among their members.

7. The Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels shall act by a majority of their members. Minority opinions shall be recorded.

8. The representatives of the Commission's departments shall be entitled to be present in the meetings of the Scientific Committee, the Scientific Panels and their working groups. If invited to do so, they may assist for the purposes of clarification or information but shall not seek to influence discussions.

9. The procedures for the operation and cooperation of the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels shall be laid down in the Authority's internal rules. These procedures shall relate in particular to:

(a) the number of times that a member can serve consecutively on a Scientific Committee or Scientific Panel;

(b) the number of members in each Scientific Panel but no more than the maximum number provided for in paragraph 5f;

(c) the procedure for reimbursing the expenses of members of the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels;

(d) the manner in which tasks and requests for scientific opinions are assigned to the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels;

(e) the creation and organisation of the working groups of the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels, and the possibility of external experts being included in those working groups;

(f) the possibility of observers being invited to meetings of the Scientific Committee and the Scientific Panels;

(g) the possibility of organising public hearings.