Extensive literature searches on bromine and ochratoxin A in feed

Background: EFSA has received mandates from the European Commission for a scientific opinion on Ochratoxin A (OTA) in feed and for a scientific opinion on bromine in feed. These mandates were allocated to the EFSA CONTAM Panel which will establish two working groups to be tasked with developing these opinions. The first opinion will be an update of the previous EFSA risk assessment of OTA in feed (EFSA, 2004) taking into account new scientific information that has since become available on the risks for animal health and transfer from feed to food of animal origin related to the presence of ochratoxin A in feed. The second opinion will be an assessment on the risks for animal health and transfer from feed to food of animal origin related to the presence of bromine in feed, in particular in algae and seaweed and derived products. To support the preparatory work for these opinions, EFSA wishes to outsource two Extensive Literature Searches (ELSs) as well as the selection of relevant studies by screening of title and abstract.

Objectives:

The objectives of the contract resulting from this procurement procedure are as follows:

Objective 1: To develop tailored search strategies to retrieve studies (including reviews and grey literature) pertinent to the risk assessment of OTA in feed published since 01/01/2003, and the risk assessment of bromine in feed (no time limit).
Objective 2: To carry out the extensive literature search (ELS) using the tailored search strings developed by the contractor and agreed by EFSA for identifying studies.
Objective 3: To evaluate the literature with regard to their relevance for risk assessment of OTA in feed and the risk assessment of bromine in feed.

Expected duration

The expected duration for the execution of the contract is estimated to be four months.

Selection criteria – technical and professional capacity:

The tenderer must have the following minimum professional capacity to perform the contract.

The tenderer must have proven and extensive experience in literature searches and evaluations, extracting and summarising scientific data/information both narratively and in tabular formats, in drafting scientific documents/articles related to chemical toxicity.
the ability to provide a team of at least 4 experts compliant with these minimum expertise requirements:

A project coordinator (can be a member of the team of experts listed below) that must have proven experience in project management and a senior profile in animal toxicology/risk assessment. S/he must have a PhD/Master or equivalent educational degree and at least 5 years of professional experience and proven record in successfully coordinating scientific research projects in the areas of toxicology/animal toxicology/risk assessment/analysis of contaminants/chemicals,
At least 2 toxicologists with a university degree in life sciences, biology, toxicology or equivalent with at least 5 years of experience proven by relevant publications of research published in English, and;
At least 1 expert in occurrence/analysis of contaminants/chemicals in food/feed with a university degree preferably in chemistry, or in life sciences, biology, chemistry or equivalent with at least 5 years of experience proven by relevant publications of research published in English, and;
At least 1 data manager (information specialist) with a proven education in the field of/related to data management and at least 5 years of experience.

The team of experts must have individually an excellent level of spoken and written English. For non-native speakers, this should be demonstrated by an Official certificate of English proving a C1 level OR at least 3 years of work or study in an English speaking environment OR at least 5 years of work in international projects where English is the working language OR by proof of (co)authorship of at least 10 scientific publications and/or reports in English language.
The tenderer must have the following minimum technical capacity to perform the contract:

Access to Web of Sciences, Pubmed and Scifinder and Citation manager software that is compatible with EndNoteTM.

If you are interested in this procedure please send an email within the deadline to efsaprocurement@efsa.europa.eu quoting the reference of the procedure and specifying the following:

your name/organisation’s name and address;
whether you participate as a physical person or an organisation/private company.
If you intend to apply in joint offer with partners. In this case, you must clearly identify each member of the joint offer and which partner is appointed as the lead partner. The composition of the partners in a joint offer cannot be changed once the invitation to tender letter has been sent.
Budget:

€70,000

Approximate launch date:

February 2022
Ref: NP/EFSA/FEEDCO/2022/01

Budget: 70,000 €

Approximate launch date: Mid-February 2022

Deadline to register interest: 07/02/2022