DEFRA REQ 1- Who are the CHaIRS group?

the work of Chemical Hazard Identification & Risk Surveillance Group (CHaIRS)

WHAT DID WE ASK?

Could you please provide me with information concerning this group
in terms of
(i) it’s terms of reference and role
(ii) Membership (who and from which organisations sit on the group)
(iii) minutes of meetings held so far.
There is little information currently available on the DEFRA website about the role of this group.

WHY DID WE ASK THIS?

I was told by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency  that the posioning of wildfowl at Rattlechain was raised as an issue at at least one meeting, with the VLA being a member of the CHaIRS group. We wanted to know more about this group, with no information available at the time about what it did.
WHAT DID THEY KNOW?

DEFRA advised us that The Food Standards Agency held the information. Their reply can be read here. We asked if they could forward the  request to The FSA. To follow their response click here.