Terms of reference
Thursday 24 January 2002
COC's terms of reference are:
To advise at the request of: Department of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Food Standards Agency, Department of Trade and Industry, Health and Safety Executive, Medicines Control Agency: Section 4 Committees and the Licensing Authority, Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, Home Office, Scottish Executive, National Assembly for Wales, Northern Ireland Assembly, other Government departments.
To assess and advise on the carcinogenic risk to man of substances which are:
- used or proposed to be used as food additives, or used in such a way that they might contaminate food through their use or natural occurrence in agriculture, including horticulture and veterinary practice or the distribution, storage, preparation, processing or packaging of food;
- used or proposed to be used or manufactured or produced in industry, agriculture, food storage or any other workplace;
- used or proposed to be used as household goods or toilet goods and preparations;
- used or proposed to be used as drugs, when advice is requested by the Medicines Control Agency, Section 4 Committee of the Licensing Authority;
- used or proposed to be used or disposed of in such a way as to result in pollution of the environment.
To advise on important general principles or new scientific discoveries in connection with carcinogenic risks, to co-ordinate with other bodies concerned with the assessment of carcinogenic risks and to present recommendations for carcinocogenicity testing.