Our mandate

Protecting human health is central to the BfR's work. Through its work, the Institute significantly contributes to making food, substances, and products safer, thereby enhancing consumer health protection.

The central task of the BfR is the scientific risk assessment of food, feed, substances, and products to support the consumer health efforts of the German Federal Government. The Institute advises the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture and, in some cases, other top federal authorities. To this end, the Institute prepares scientific opinions, statements, and other resources. The BfR serves an advisory role and is involved in various registration and authorization procedures.

A scientific, research-driven approach

The BfR's work in consumer health protection is guided by a scientific, research-driven approach. Risk management authorities rely on the Institute’s health risk assessments and opinions for recommended actions. The BfR's findings and recommendations are a valuable source of information and decision-making support for all stakeholders. With its science-based risk assessment, the BfR provides important and influential impulses for consumer health protection within Germany and beyond.

Risk communication

The BfR has a legal mandate to inform the public about potential, identified, and assessed risks that foods, substances, and products may pose to consumers. The entire assessment process has to be transparent to all citizens. Through comprehensive and clear risk communication, the BfR makes scientific findings visible, accessible, and applicable for consumers.

Legal foundations of the BfR

The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment was established as a federal authority with legal status under the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL). The BfR's responsibilities originate primarily from the BfR Act (BfRG), enacted in 2002 as part of the reorganization of consumer health protection and food safety in Germany. In addition, the legislature has assigned further tasks and responsibilities to the BfR through more than ten other laws, including the Plant Protection Act (PflSchG), the Genetic Engineering Act (GenTG), the Food and Feed Code (LFGB), and the Chemicals Act (ChemG).

Following changes in the organisation of the federal ministries, some areas of BfR's work are currently the responsibility of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and are subject to the statutory regulations applicable to this area.

Scientific independence

To ensure that BfR’s assessments are not influenced by political, economic and social interests, the Institute operates independently in its scientific assessments and research, free from government instructions, as stipulated by the BfRG. When the BfR performs tasks outside the jurisdiction of the Federal Ministry of Nutrition and Agriculture (BMEL), it is subject to the technical instructions of the relevant supreme federal authority.

The assessments serve as a basis for the implementation of legislation on the one hand and for policy decisions on the other. The BfR therefore aims to provide a solid scientific foundation for its contributions to both legislative implementation and policy advice. How about this: This involves adequately considering and clearly presenting existing knowledge, while also communicating relevant scientific counter-opinions and uncertainties.

The overall concept in accordance with the BfRG and the BfR statutes explicitly provides for dialogue with all stakeholders, including NGOs, consumer associations, industry, politics, science and the media. The advisory participation of various stakeholders is particularly important when scientific positions are represented and rationalised. The BfR has therefore convened various commissions in order to comprehensively cover its scientific advisory needs. Their members are selected based on scientific excellence and represent diverse stakeholder groups, including universities, research institutions, federal and state authorities, trade and consumer associations, private laboratories, and industry. These external experts advise the BfR and make recommendations, but they are not involved in official decision-making processes and the preparation of risk assessments and BfR opinions.

See also: BfR FAQ: Ensuring the Independence of the BfR

Main areas of work

The main areas of work of the BfR include

• health risk assessment of the biological and chemical safety of food and feed,
• scientific advice to the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and in some cases, to other supreme federal authorities,
• health risk assessment of the safety of substances (chemicals, plant protection products, biocides) and selected products (consumer goods, e.g. textiles and food packaging, cosmetics, tattoo inks and tobacco products),
• risk assessment of genetically modified organisms in food, feed, plants and animals,
• public relations and risk communication,
• development and validation of alternative and supplementary methods to animal experiments,
• method development and validation activities of the National Reference Laboratories.