State General Laboratory Annual Report 2018

20 State General laboratory Annual Report 2018  Continued participation in the following:  The evaluation of EU research proposals for funding and in the Programming Committee of the "Horizon2020" (Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture, Marine, Maritime and Inland Water Research and Biomonitoring) for research, etc.  The Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Health for the development of a strategy for research, and the approval of applications for applied research within the various departments of the Ministry.  The integration, enrichment and extension of the "European Bank for the Isotopic Characteristics of Wines" (as scientific coordinator of Cyprus and Greece), coordinated by the EU’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in implementation of Regulation (EC) 555/2008.  The Working Groups of the Council of the EU for the formation / modification of the European legislation.  The Management Board of the European Joint Research Programme on Human Biomonitoring (HBM4EU) representing the Ministry of Health, and being the Cyprus scientific coordinator of the project. It also represents HBM4EU in European and international forums on Mercury issues (e.g. Conference of the Parties to the Minamata - UN Convention on Mercury - "Minamata COP2", Geneva, November 2018). In terms of international cooperation , the SGL continued participation in the following:  The Codex Alimentarius, the FAO and the WHO discussions in areas of its competence.  WHO’s "Environment and Health Process", as the National Contact Point of the Ministry of Health, as well as the National focal point (health sector) on the "European Environment and Health Task Force (EHTF)" - WHO Europe, for the implementation of the Ostrava Declaration on tackling environmental health impacts.  The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) working groups.  The International Network of Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity (ALMERA).  International conferences with presentations of scientific papers and posters (EURACHEM 2018, ESFA Scientific Conference 2018, Risk Assessment Research Assembly – EFSA, SWAT International Conference on Small and Decentralised Water and Wastewater treatment plants, International Conference on Risk Assessment of Indoor Air, International Symposium on Hormone and Veterinary Drug Residue analysis).  The evaluation of research papers (reviews) for their approval for publication in international reputable journals or books.