Lord Rooker, Minister for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health has announced seven new members to the Veterinary Residues Committee (VRC).

The VRC’s role is to advise the Chief Executives of the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the formulation of the residues surveillance programmes and on the significance of the results in terms of consumer safety.

The seven new members who have been appointed to serve on the VRC from January 2009 until December 2012 are:

• Jon Averns (Local Authority) is currently employed as Port Health Services Director by the City of London Corporation in its role as the London Port Health Authority.
• Tim Brigstocke (Agriculture Industry) runs a livestock consultancy business. He is the immediate past Chairman of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF).
• Gill Clare (Food Chemical Safety/Risk Assessment) is a genetic toxicologist, speciality cytogenetics, with a PhD gained in a hospital radiotherapy department.
• Andrew Grant (Fish Farming) is a veterinary graduate (Cambridge 1980). He worked in mixed, mainly agricultural practice for eight years.
• Declan O’Rourke (Pharmaceutical Industry), is a veterinary surgeon and works as an independent consultant in pharmacovigilance and livestock medicine.
• David Ralph (Feed Industry) comes from an agricultural background and has experience of a range of livestock production systems.
• Michael Roberts (Food Industry) has extensive experience in senior science management in the Research Councils and Defra dealing with a range of issues relating to the food chain and environmental objectives.

The appointments were undertaken in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.

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