Terms of Reference and Operating Rules for FSAI Artisan Forum
Terms of Reference
1. The Artisan Forum is an ad-hoc stakeholder group organised and operated by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) to provide a formal platform for discussion between artisan food producers, artisan stakeholders and the FSAI and official agencies.
2. The objective of the Artisan Forum is to facilitate compliance with “food law” (within the scope of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act 1998) and the uptake of the highest standards of food safety and hygiene.
3. The scope of the Forum’s work will be limited to areas that impact on artisan food production, distribution and sale within the following framework:
a. Food legislation within the FSAI remit
b. Proposed new food legislation that falls within the FSAI remit
c. Food law enforcement by FSAI or under FSAI contract
d. Voluntary food standards within the FSAI remit
Operating Procedures
In accepting membership of the Artisan Forum, members agree to the following operating procedures
1. The Forum will consist of a maximum of 20 members and membership will be limited to artisan food producers and related stakeholders.
2. Meetings will ordinarily be held twice annually although a third meeting may be convened at the request of members.
3. FSAI will chair the meetings and documents will be circulated by FSAI by e-mail. Letter post will only be used for large documents and those members without internet access.
4. Minutes will be taken at each meeting and circulated by FSAI to attendees after the meeting for agreement. Agreed minutes will be placed on the FSAI web site and circulated to all members and additional attendees.
5. In selecting new members, reasonable efforts will be made to achieve a membership which is balanced in the representation of all artisan food sectors, balanced in the representation of geographical regions and weighted in favour of artisan producers and/or their trade bodies over other stakeholders.
6. Members should strive to attend all meetings of the Forum to facilitate the continuity of discussions. However, members should nominate one alternate person who will attend in their place if the member is unable to attend. The list of agreed alternative attendees will be maintained by the FSAI.
7. In the first place FSAI will invite all members to meetings and circulate documents to all members prior to a meeting. FSAI will invite the relevant alternative attendee when a member notifies FSAI that they cannot attend a meeting. This ensures that FSAI are aware of all attendees at meetings and that all attendees have an opportunity to review circulated documents.
8. Members, and in their absence their invited alternate, are the only people allowed to attend FSAI Artisan Forum meetings. Additional people will be considered for certain meetings, but only by FSAI invitation on a case by case basis.
9. Most members will be invited in their personal capacity but others will be invited as representatives of organisations. Members who fail to maintain reasonable attendance at Forum meetings will be asked to resign by the FSAI to make way for other people wishing to become members. If such members are representatives of organisations, their organisations will be invited to nominate an alternative representative member.
10. FSAI will maintain a list of people requesting membership of the Forum and appoint new members from the list with the agreement of existing members whilst maintaining the balance of membership outlined in 3 above. No person with a final conviction (that is, subject only to the final outcome of relevant legal proceedings including on appeal or judicial review) under the food law will be eligible for membership of the Artisan Forum.
11. FSAI reserves the right to terminate the membership of any person. A member of the Artisan Forum who is convicted on an offence under the food law will be required to stand down from the Forum immediately upon final conviction.
Last reviewed: 2/8/2011