No L 237/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 8. 97 COMMISSION DECISION of 23 July 1997 setting up Scientific Committees in the field of consumer health and food safety (Text with EEA relevance) (97/579/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Whereas sound scientific advice is an essential basis for Community rules on consumer health, which concerns matters relating to consumer health in its strictest sense, but also on animal health and welfare, plant health and environmental health; Whereas scientific advice on matters relating to consumer health must, in the interests of consumers and industry, be based on the principles of excellence, independence and transparency; - Whereas, besides cases in which consultation of the Scientific Committees is mandatory, those Committees may also be consulted on matters of particular relevance to consumer health and food safety; Whereas, although many of the problems requiring a scientific opinion fall within the field of competence of one of the existing Scientific Committees, it is nonethe- less apparent that some problems may involve the com- petence of several Committees; Whereas, in order to strengthen their cohesion and at the same time avoid certain overlaps, it is appropriate to re- define the activities of certain Committees; Whereas by Decision 97/404/EC (') the Commission es- tablished a Scientific Steering Committee to coordinate the work of the Scientific Committees; Whereas the Commission must be able to obtain sound and timely scientific advice; Whereas several Council directives and a number of Council regulations provide for mandatory consultation of one or another of the current Scientific Committees; whereas the Commission intends to make appropriate proposals to the Council to adapt existing legislation to this Decision, () OJ No L 169, 27. 6. 1997, p. 8. HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 1. The following Scientific Committees are hereby established within the Commission: — Scientific Committee on Food, — Scientific Committee on Animal Nutrition, — Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare, — Scientific Committee on Veterinary Measures relating to Public Health, — Scientific Committee on Plants, — Scientific Committee on Cosmetic Products and Non-Food Products intended for Consumers, —- Scientific Committee on Medicinal Products and Medical Devices, — Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment. 2.  The fields of competence of the Scientific Commit- tees shall be as set out in the Annex. 3. The Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare shall be composed of a sub-committee on Animal Health and a sub-committee on Animal Welfare. Article 2 1. The Scientific Committees shall be consulted in the cases laid down by Community legislation. The Commis- sion may also decide to consult them on other questions of particular relevance to consumer health and food safety. 2. When the question submitted is common to several of the Scientific Committees mentioned in Article 1, and following identification by the Scientific Steering Committee of the Committees involved, they may set up a common working group to prepare their respective opinions. The creation of such a group shall be obligatory if the Scientific Steering Committee so requests.