1.   The panel shall consist of six members.

2.   The Director-General for Health and Food Safety acting on behalf of the Commission (‘the Director-General’) shall appoint the members of the panel from a list of suitable candidates established following publication of a call for applications on the Commission's website and in the Register of Commission expert groups and other similar entities (‘Register of expert groups’). The members shall be selected on the basis of their expertise and experience in the fields of sensory, statistical and chemical analysis, and with due regard to the need to ensure independence and absence of conflicts of interests.

3.   Persons on the list of suitable candidates who are not appointed to the panel shall be included in a reserve list of suitable candidates to replace members whose membership has ceased in accordance with Article 5(3). The Director-General shall ask applicants for their consent before including their names on the reserve list.

4.   The list of panel members shall be published in the Register of expert groups and be made available on the relevant Commission website.

1.   The members of the panel shall be appointed for a renewable term of five years.

2.   If, at the end of a term, the renewal or replacement of the panel has not been confirmed, the existing members shall remain in office.

3.   An individual shall cease to be a member of the panel if:

4.   A member wishing to resign shall notify the Director-General by e-mail or registered post, giving at least six months' notice. Where he or she is in a position to execute his or her tasks and a replacement process is ongoing, he or she may, at the request of the Director-General, remain in office until the replacement is confirmed.

5.   The Director-General may temporarily suspend or permanently terminate the membership of a member where it has been found, or there are reasonable grounds to consider, that:

6.   Where the membership of a member has ceased in accordance with paragraph 3, the Director-General shall appoint a replacement for the remainder of the term or for the period of the temporary suspension. The Commission shall launch a new call for applications once the reserve list is exhausted.

1.   At the beginning of each term, the panel shall elect a Chair and a Vice-Chair from among its members. The election shall take place by a simple majority of its total membership. In the event of parity, the Director-General shall select the Chair from the members with most votes, on the basis of an assessment of their qualifications and experience.

2.   The term of office of the Chair and Vice-Chair shall coincide with the term of the panel and shall be renewable. Any replacement of the Chair or Vice-Chair shall be for the remainder of the term of the panel.

1.   For votes in cases other than referred to in Article 6 and Article 8(3)(a), the panel shall only take decisions when at least four members are participating in the vote, one of whom must be either the Chair or the Vice-Chair. Decisions shall be taken by a simple majority.

2.   In the event of parity, the person chairing the vote shall have the casting vote.

3.   Persons who have ceased to be members or whose membership is temporarily suspended pursuant to Article 5(5) shall not be taken into account for the calculation of the majority referred to in paragraph 1.

1.   The panel shall adopt, and update as appropriate, its rules of procedure on a proposal by and in agreement with the Director-General.

2.   The rules of procedure shall ensure that the panel performs its tasks in compliance with the principles of scientific excellence, independence and transparency.

3.   In particular, the rules of procedure shall provide for:

1.   The panel shall specify and, as appropriate, update the methodology for the technical assessment of test products. The methodology for sensory analysis shall be based on a comparison of the smelling properties of the test product with those of reference products. In developing the methodology, the panel shall take into consideration, as appropriate, input from the technical group referred to in Article 12.

2.   The draft methodology, and any subsequent draft update, shall be submitted to the Director-General for approval and shall only become applicable after such approval has been given.

1.   Where the panel is asked to provide an opinion on a test product, the Chair of the panel shall inform all members. He or she may appoint a rapporteur from among the members to coordinate the examination of a particular product. The Chair shall submit a final report to the Commission and, where applicable, the requesting Member State.

2.   Where the panel considers it necessary for the purposes of providing an opinion, it shall request input from the technical group established in accordance with Article 12. In forming its opinion, the panel shall have regard to the information and data obtained from the technical group. It may also have regard to any other information at its disposal that it considers authoritative and relevant, including information resulting from reporting obligations pursuant to Article 5 of Directive 2014/40/EU.

3.   With respect to the data and information provided by the technical group, the panel shall, in particular:

4.   If the panel considers the data or information to be insufficient or has doubts as to whether the applicable rules and standards were respected, it shall consult the Commission and, where applicable, the requesting Member State. Where it is considered necessary, the panel may ask the technical group to repeat certain tests taking into account the panel's comments.

5.   Where the panel is satisfied that applicable rules and standards were respected, including, where applicable, following the procedure laid down in paragraph 4, and that the data and information are sufficient to reach a conclusion, it shall proceed to deliver an opinion in accordance with paragraph 2.

6.   The panel shall submit its opinion to the Commission and any referring Member States within three months of the date of receipt of the request or by a date agreed with the Commission or the requesting Member State.

1.   The Commission may consult the panel on other matters relating to the determination of a characterising flavour in accordance with Article 7 of Directive 2014/40/EU. In such cases, it shall decide, in consultation with the Chair, whether to convene a meeting or proceed by means of a written procedure.

2.   The Chair may appoint a rapporteur from among the panel members to coordinate the task and shall submit a final report to the Commission.

3.   In its deliberations, the panel shall consider, as appropriate, data and information provided to it by the technical group and other relevant information at its disposal.

1.   A technical group of sensory and chemical assessors (‘the technical group’) shall be set up to provide the panel with an assessment of the sensory and, where appropriate, chemical properties of the test product as part of the procedure laid down in Article 10. The technical group shall be composed of:

2.   A public procurement procedure shall be established for the selection of a contractor with responsibility for setting up the technical group. The contractor shall have at its disposal the minimum technical expertise and equipment as specified in the call for tender and include the persons referred to in paragraph 1(a) and (c).

The call for tender and associated contractual documentation shall specify that the technical group is under an obligation to act independently and protect confidential information and personal data. It shall further contain a requirement that each group member return a duly completed declaration of interest before engaging in any work for the technical group. In addition, the call for tender and associated contractual documentation shall contain, at least, the following elements:

3.   The technical group's sensory analysis shall be based on the methodology established pursuant to Article 9.

4.   The sensory analysis shall be complemented, where appropriate, by a chemical assessment of the product composition through chemical analyses. This assessment shall be carried out in a manner that produces accurate, consistent and reproducible results. The process and results of the chemical assessment shall be documented.

5.   The technical group shall deliver the results of the product testing to the panel by a date agreed by the panel.

6.   The work of the technical group shall be subject to the limits of the annual budget allocated to it by the Commission.

1.   The Commission shall provide a secretariat for the panel and for all other activities relating to the application of this Decision.

2.   The secretariat shall be responsible for providing administrative support to facilitate the efficient functioning of the panel and to monitor compliance with the rules of procedure.

1.   The members of the panel shall be entitled to a special allowance compensating them for their preparatory work and participation, in person or remotely by electronic means, in the meetings of the panel and other activities relating to the application of this Decision and organised by the Commission, and for serving as rapporteur on a specific question.

2.   The special allowance shall consist of a maximum of EUR 450 in the form of a daily unit cost for each full working day. The total allowance shall be calculated and rounded up to the amount corresponding to the nearest half working day.

3.   The Commission shall reimburse travel and, where appropriate, subsistence expenses incurred by members and external experts in connection with the panel's activities in accordance with internal Commission provisions.

4.   All allowances and reimbursements shall be subject to the annual budget allocated to the panel by the Commission.

1.   The Chair of the panel shall act as the contact person for the Member States and the Commission.

2.   The Chair shall immediately report to the Commission any circumstances that could jeopardise the functioning of the panel.

1.   The members of the panel shall be appointed in a personal capacity. They shall not delegate their responsibilities to any other person. In performing their functions, they shall respect the principles of independence, impartiality and confidentiality and act in the public interest.

2.   Experts applying to be appointed as members of the panel shall be required to submit a declaration indicating any interest that may compromise or reasonably be perceived to compromise their independence, including any relevant circumstances relating to their close family members or partners. Submission of a duly completed declaration of interests shall be necessary in order for an expert to be eligible to be appointed as a member of the panel. If the Commission concludes that no conflict of interest exists, the applicant shall be eligible for appointment, provided he or she is considered to possess the required expertise.

3.   Panel members shall promptly inform the Commission if there is any change in the information provided in their declaration, in which case they must immediately submit a new declaration showing relevant changes.

4.   At each meeting, panel members shall declare any specific interest that may compromise or reasonably be perceived to compromise their independence in relation to any item on the agenda. In such cases, the Chair may request that the member concerned withdraw from the meeting or from parts of the meeting. The Chair shall inform the Commission of such declaration and actions taken.

5.   The panel members shall refrain from having any direct or indirect contact with the tobacco industry or its representatives.

1.   The panel members shall not divulge information, including commercially sensitive or personal data, acquired as a result of the panel's work or of other activities relating to the application of this Decision, even after they have ceased to be members. They shall sign a declaration of confidentiality to this effect.

2.   The panel members shall comply with the Commission's security rules on the protection of EU classified and sensitive non-classified information, as set out in Commission Decisions (EU, Euratom) 2015/443 (4) and (EU, Euratom) 2015/444 (5). Should they fail to respect these obligations, the Commission may take all appropriate measures.

1.   The activities of the panel shall be carried out with a high level of transparency. The Commission shall publish all relevant documents on a dedicated website and provide a link to this website from the register of expert groups. In particular, it shall make available to the public, without undue delay:

2.   By way of derogation from paragraph 1, publication shall not be required where disclosure of a document would undermine the protection of a public or private interest as defined in Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6).