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<BR>Ethical framework<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>The two Agencies which have merged to form ANSES have played an important role in setting up quality standards and good practice rules in France. ANSES draws on these achievements while at the same time strengthening their scope. Its expertise activity is based on several foundations: the French standard for "Quality in expertise", ANSES's own Guide to Good Practice and Code of Ethics, the Committee for ethical(1) standards and prevention of conflicts of interest, and finally the existing legal rules and sanctions.<BR><BR>Good practices for collective expert assessment <BR><BR>The reliance on collective expert assessment for evaluating health risks is one of the basic principles set down in the founding charter on which ANSES is based. For this activity the Agency applies the French standard NF X 50-110 on "Quality in expertise activities-general requirements of competence for an expertise activity" and is drawing up its own good practice guide. Collective expert assessment is organised according to a procedure for selecting and bringing together experts from various fields to consider a particular issue, to take into account all of the available scientific knowledge, to organise collective hearings and debate for all of the experts' opinions and hypotheses and then to issue opinions and/or recommendations which are systematically made public. <BR>Collective expert assessment thus guarantees that all of the knowledge and data on a particular issue are taken into account in order to be able to issue an independent opinion after considering all hypotheses.<BR>In practice ANSES recruits most of its experts through public calls for candidates. All potential candidates have to sign a commitment to respect the Agency's ethical rules and they are only appointed once their public disclosure of interests (which is mandatory and which must be kept up-to-date) has been examined.<BR>The expertise must be conducted collectively at all stages, from the initial presentation of data, through successive discussion and debate to the final conclusions.<BR><BR><BR>The Committee for ethical standards and prevention of conflicts of interests<BR><BR>In order to guarantee the quality of its expertise, ANSES has an audit mechanism and a specific body, the Committee for ethical standards and prevention of conflicts of interests, which is responsible for dealing with particularly complex situations and evaluating choices which have been brought into question or raised doubts.<BR>The Committee for ethical standards and prevention of conflicts of interests is a significant innovation in ANSES's governance structure, which is defined in the Agency's founding charter. It can intervene in all circumstances and all stages of collective expert assessment from a formal request to an ANSES opinion.<BR>The Committee for ethical standards and prevention of conflicts of interests can be petitioned by a member of the Board of Administration, of the scientific advisory council, of the Scientific Panels or by the Director General or an ANSES employee. It is empowered to collect all the necessary documents for its investigation and to hear third parties which might inform its decision. It sends its opinions and recommendations to the petitioning individual or organisation as well as to the Agency's Board of Administration and Director General. The latter then informs the supervising Ministries.<BR>The Committee for ethical standards and prevention of conflicts of interest is made up of six members, all with acknowledged expertise and experience in ethical matters: <BR>- Christian Géraut, university professor, specialised hospital physician <BR>- Marie-Angèle Hermitte, research director<BR>- Françoise Houel, honorary civil administrator <BR>- Pierre Le Coz, holder of the agrégation degree in philosophy and a doctorate in life sciences and health sciences <BR>- Patrick Legrand, research engineer at INRA <BR>- Patrice Van Lerberghe, honorary inspector general of the national education and research administration.<BR>Appointed for a five-year mandate by the ministerial order of 9 March 2011, these committee members may not participate in any other ANSES bodies or activities<BR><BR>(1) 'Ethics' is understood to mean "the moral code underlying the specific rules for a given profession". L.-M. Morfaux, Vocabulaire de la philosophie et des sciences humaines, Paris, Armand Colin. 1980. <BR><BR>General texts about expertise (in French)<BR><BR>- Code déontologie de l'expertise<BR>- Principes fondamentaux et points clés de l'expertise<BR>- L'expertise à l'Anses : Règles de responsabilité appliquées à l'expertise<BR><BR>Public Declaration of Interests (in French)<BR><BR>- Les Déclarations publiques d'intérêts des membres du comité de déontologie et de prévention des conflits d'intérêts <BR>- Les Déclarations publiques d'intérêts des experts (Alimentation, Santé animale, Végétal)<BR>- Les Déclarations publiques d'intérêts des experts (Santé environnement, Santé au travail)<BR>- Les Déclarations publiques d'intérêts des agents de l'Anses concourant au métier de l'expertise<BR>- Déclaration publique d'intérêts : Formulaire<BR>- Déclaration publique d'intérêts : Notice explicative<BR><BR><BR>March 2011<BR><BR><BR>Home,Anses,News,Press room,Agenda,Our topics,Food,Animal health and nutrition,Environmental health,Occupational health,Plants,Opinions and publications,Last opinions and reports,Food opinions and reports,Animal health and nutrition opinions and reports,Environmental and occupational health opinions and reports,Plants opinions,Opinions and reports in English,Bulletins and periodicals,Other publications,Subscribe to Anses newsletter,Research and reference,Research program,Laboratories and reference activities, + ,Job opportunities,Public procurement contracts,Our websites,Partners,Extranet / ExpertNet,Kid's area,Legal notice,Contact, ,<BR>Agency presentation,Missions,Governance system,Agency organization,Expertise,Scientific panels and Commissions,Quality policy,Ethical framework ,Europe/international,Programme de travail,Activity reports,Official Bulletin ,<BR>Avis du comité de déontologie et de prévention des conflits d'intérêts<A HREF='PND9I0.htm'>Open Anses</A>
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M
Ethicalframework
The two Agencies which have merged to form ANSES have played an important role in setting up quality standards and good practice rules in France. ANSES draws on these achievements while at the same time strengthening their scope. Its expertise activity is based on several foundations: the French standard for "Quality in expertise", ANSES's own Guide to Good Practice and Code of Ethics, the Committee for ethical(1) standards and prevention of conflicts of interest, and finally the existing legal rules and sanctions.
Good practices for collective expert assessment
The reliance on collective expert assessment for evaluating health risks is one of the basic principles set down in the founding charter on which ANSES is based. For this activity the Agency applies the French standard NF X 50-110 on "Quality in expertise activities-general requirements of competence for an expertise activity" and is drawing up its own good practice guide. Collective expert assessment is organised according to a procedure for selecting and bringing together experts from various fields to consider a particular issue, to take into account all of the available scientific knowledge, to organise collective hearings and debate for all of the experts' opinions and hypotheses and then to issue opinions and/or recommendations which are systematically made public. Collective expert assessment thus guarantees that all of the knowledge and data on a particular issue are taken into account in order to be able to issue an independent opinion after considering all hypotheses. In practice ANSES recruits most of its experts through public calls for candidates. All potential candidates have to sign a commitment to respect the Agency's ethical rules and they are only appointed once their public disclosure of interests (which is mandatory and which must be kept up-to-date) has been examined. The expertise must be conducted collectively at all stages, from the initial presentation of data, through successive discussion and debate to the final conclusions.
The Committee for ethical standards and prevention of conflicts of interests
In order to guarantee the quality of its expertise, ANSES has an audit mechanism and a specific body, the Committee for ethical standards and prevention of conflicts of interests, which is responsible for dealing with particularly complex situations and evaluating choices which have been brought into question or raised doubts. The Committee for ethical standards and prevention of conflicts of interests is a significant innovation in ANSES's governance structure, which is defined in the Agency's founding charter. It can intervene in all circumstances and all stages of collective expert assessment from a formal request to an ANSES opinion. The Committee for ethical standards and prevention of conflicts of interests can be petitioned by a member of the Board of Administration, of the scientific advisory council, of the Scientific Panels or by the Director General or an ANSES employee. It is empowered to collect all the necessary documents for its investigation and to hear third parties which might inform its decision. It sends its opinions and recommendations to the petitioning individual or organisation as well as to the Agency's Board of Administration and Director General. The latter then informs the supervising Ministries. The Committee for ethical standards and prevention of conflicts of interest is made up of six members, all with acknowledged expertise and experience in ethical matters: - Christian Géraut, university professor, specialised hospital physician - Marie-Angèle Hermitte, research director - Françoise Houel, honorary civil administrator - Pierre Le Coz, holder of the agrégation degree in philosophy and a doctorate in life sciences and health sciences - Patrick Legrand, research engineer at INRA - Patrice Van Lerberghe, honorary inspector general of the national education and research administration. Appointed for a five-year mandate by the ministerial order of 9 March 2011, these committee members may not participate in any other ANSES bodies or activities
Anses
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