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The main objectives of EFSA's activities on emerging risks encompass: (i) conducting activities to identify emerging risks; (ii) developing and improving emerging risk identification (ERI) methodologies and approaches; and (iii) communicating identified issues and risks. The outcome of these activities equips EFSA to anticipate forthcoming challenges in the continuously evolving landscape of risk assessment. EFSA networks of knowledge contributing to the emerging risks identification activity include the Emerging Risks Exchange Network (EREN), the Stakeholder Discussion Group on Emerging Risks (StaDG‐ER), EFSA's scientific units, the scientific panels, the Scientific Committee and their working groups. The current technical report summarises the activities of all groups involved in the emerging risk identification procedure, the issues identified in the course of 2022, the emerging risk identification methodologies being developed, and the collaborative activities. In total, 13 potential emerging issues were discussed in 2022 and two were concluded to be emerging risks. The potential issues were classified according to the hazard. The year 2022 marks a turn in EFSA's activities on emerging risk identification. To achieve strategic objective no. 2 'Ensure preparedness for future risks analysis needs' of the EFSA Strategy 2027, a new process 'Environmental scanning and strategic options definition' has been developed. The process adds to the already existing emerging risks analysis workflow a second workflow that is more forward‐looking, to deal with horizon scanning in the areas of food and feed safety, plant health and animal health. Similarly to the emerging risks analysis workflow, the new workflow for horizon scanning strongly relies on partnership to be prepared for future challenges, build resilience, and proactively shape the future in a one‐health approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2023, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) organised two crisis preparedness sessions; one external crisis exercise to emphasise cooperation and collaboration between various EU agencies, and one internal crisis workshop to assess the implication of article 20 of Regulation (EU 2022/2371) on EFSA's procedures of urgent response. The one‐and‐a‐half‐day external crisis exercise was hosted at the offices of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU‐OSHA and involved members of the European Union Agencies Network on Scientific Advice (EU‐ANSA); the focus was on resource and expertise pooling in response to crises that involve food safety or cross‐border threats to health. The training aimed to, and achieved several objectives, including enhancing the preparedness and collaboration of EU‐ANSA Agencies in supporting evidence‐based policymaking during crises, fostering mutual understanding of the different roles and mandates of the Agencies, setting the scene for future sharing of crisis‐related knowledge and information, testing the EU‐ANSA concept through the draft Framework for Interagency Coordination & Scientific Cooperation In Times Of Crisis, and exploring flexible and proactive approaches to interagency collaboration during crisis response. The internal crisis preparedness session was a workshop focused on identifying how the EFSA procedures for responding to urgent advice needs should be updated for working with other EU agencies on a serious cross‐border threat to health, as required by Regulation (EU) 2022/2371. The workshop was attended by 25 participants from EFSA, as well as 6 representatives from the European Commission (EC), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and European Environment Agency (EEA). The workshop was mainly discussion‐based, with a series of exercises focusing on identifying areas for improvement, with two presentations setting the scene. The objectives of both events were achieved, based on recorded outcomes and feedback provided by participants in an evaluation survey. This Annual Report summarises the external training and provides a detailed overview of the development, content, conclusions and ideas generated by the internal event, as well as the participants' evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objectives of EFSA's activities on emerging risks are: (i) to carry out activities to identify emerging risks; (ii) to develop and improve emerging risk identification (ERI) methodologies and approaches; and iii) to communicate on identified issues and risks. The outcome of these activities allows EFSA to prepare for future risk assessment challenges. EFSA networks of knowledge contributing to the ERI activity include the Emerging Risks Exchange Network, the Stakeholder Discussion Group on Emerging Risks, EFSA's scientific units, scientific panels and the Scientific Committee and its working groups. The current technical report summarises the activities of all groups involved in the ERI procedure and the issues identified in the course of 2021; it also describes the methodologies being developed and the collaborative activities. In total, 18 potential emerging issues were discussed in 2021. Eight were concluded to be emerging risks. The potential issues were classified according to the hazard and/or driver identified. In more than half of the issues discussed in 2021, a change in consumer trends was identified as a driver. A better understanding of these trends is particularly relevant for EFSA to improve preparedness. In addition, in 2021 the Emerging Risks Exchange Network members presented and discussed a total of 35 signals/potential emerging issues identified by their own horizon‐scanning activities. Several Member States representatives shared their work on signal identification with the objective of collecting additional information that can be used for a better characterisation of the retrieved signals. Finally, several procurements are ongoing in EFSA to develop methodologies for ERI in specific areas of interest. The implementation of more effective and comprehensive methods to proactively collect, share and disseminate knowledge in the landscape of emerging risks is crucial for EFSA's preparedness risk assessment scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objectives of EFSA's activities on emerging risks are: (i) to carry out activities to identify emerging risks; (ii) to develop and improve emerging risk identification (ERI) methodologies and approaches; and (iii) communicate the issues and risks identified. The outcome of these activities also allows EFSA to prepare for future risk assessment challenges. The current technical report summarises the activities of all groups involved in the ERI procedure, the issues identified in the course of 2020, a description of the methodologies that have been considered, and collaborative activities. EFSA networks of knowledge contributing to the ERI activity include the Emerging Risks Exchange Network (EREN), the Stakeholder Discussion Group on Emerging Risks, EFSA's scientific units, scientific panels and the Scientific Committee. In total, 13 potential emerging issues were discussed in 2020. Six were concluded to be emerging issues. The potential issues were organised according to the hazard or driver identified. In addition, in 2020, EREN network members presented and discussed a total of 35 signals/potential emerging issues that had been identified by their own horizon‐scanning activities. Member State representatives shared their work on signal identification with the objective of collecting additional information that could be used for better characterisation. It is crucial to introduce more dynamic and interactive approaches to gather and disseminate knowledge, while also taking into consideration the potential risks that may arise in new areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crisis preparedness training programmes are substantial for the effective management of contingency plans. Rift Valley Fever (RVF) was chosen as the vector transmitted zoonosis for a crisis preparedness exercise co-organised in 2021 by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell'Abruzzo e del Molise "G. Caporale" (IZS-Teramo). The online table-top simulation exercise was planned to strengthen the network of Mediterranean countries on rapid risk assessment, risk/crisis management and risk communication during a human/animal health crisis, adopting the 'One Health' approach. Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Turkey were the beneficiary countries, while European Commission (EC), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), World Health Organisation (WHO), World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) were the designated observers who were actively involved along the entire capacity building process. The simulation exercise was based on a fictional case study in which the zoonotic mosquito-borne disease, not currently present in Europe, was accidentally introduced into the European Union via the accidental transfer of infected vectors from a RVF-endemic country. The training activity was positively assessed by the participants and useful suggestions were given to address further future similar initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 2020, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) facilitated an online workshop on crisis preparedness and procedures with Members and Observers of EFSA's Focal Point Network. The overall aims of the event were, in the context of a food or feed safety incident,(i) to establish the most appropriate ways to improve collaboration—and exchange data & information—between EFSA and Focal Points, in EU Member States and Pre‐Accession Countries; (ii) identify gaps and frustrations in the current system and look for ways to improve; and (iii) share best practice and knowledge to improve ways of working. Content for the workshop was jointly developed between EFSA and Instinctif Partners. Sixty‐three (63) participants attended plenary and/or working group activity sessions configured within an agenda extending across two days.During Day One, four plenary activities (including presentations and structured discussions) aimed to clarify the role played by Focal Point Network members during incident response, plus the frustrations and challenges arising from fulfilling that role. A working group activity focused on finding solutions and workarounds to the problems and challenges identified. The Day One afternoon session was a two‐hour discussion exercise designed to elaborate the real‐world incident response activities potentially undertaken by Focal Points in the case of a fast‐evolving, large‐scale foodborne disease outbreak. The fictional scenario for the exercise was based on a hypothetical situation where a novel pathogenic virus (similar to SARS‐CoV‐2) turned out to be transmissible in certain food products. Day Two of the event included a 1.5‐hour facilitated plenary debrief of the Day One discussion exercise. The objectives of the event were achieved, based on the recorded outcomes and feedback provided by participants in an online evaluation survey. In addition, discussions during the event generated eighteen (18) practical recommendations for future enhancements and improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]