§ 14.86 - Rights and responsibilities of nonvoting members of advisory committees.

§ 14.86 Rights and responsibilities of nonvoting members of advisory committees.

(a) A nonvoting member of an advisory committee selected to represent and serve as a liaison with interested individuals, associations, and organizations has the same rights as any other committee member except that -

(1) A nonvoting member may vote only on procedural matters such as additional rules adopted under § 14.39(a), approval of minutes under § 14.60(a), decisions on transcripts under § 14.61(b), and future meeting dates;

(2) A nonvoting member who is a representative of industry interest may have access to data and information that constitute a trade secret or confidential commercial or financial information as defined in § 20.61 only if the person has been appointed as a special Government employee under § 14.80(b).

(b) A nonvoting member of an advisory committee is subject to, and shall abide by, all rules and regulations adopted by FDA and the committee.

(c) It is the responsibility of the nonvoting consumer and industry members of an advisory committee to represent the consumer and industry interests in all deliberations.

(1) A nonvoting member does not represent any particular organization or group, but rather represents all interested persons within the class which the member is selected to represent. Accordingly, an interested person within the class represented by that nonvoting member may, upon request, have access to all written statements or oral briefings concerning the committee prepared by the nonvoting member for distribution to any person outside the committee. When documents are prepared with non-Government funds, persons desiring copies may be required to pay a reasonable fee to cover printing and similar costs.

(2) The nonvoting member reviews all official committee minutes to assure their completeness and accuracy.

(3) The nonvoting member acts as a liaison between the committee and the interested persons whom that member represents, and transmits requests for information from the committee and relevant information and views to the committee. The nonvoting member takes the initiative in contacting interested persons whom the member represents to seek out relevant information and views and to relate the progress of the advisory committee.

(4) A nonvoting industry member represents all members of the industry, and not any particular association, company, product, or ingredient. If a matter comes before the committee that directly or indirectly affects the company employing the nonvoting industry member, the member shall so inform the committee but need not be absent during the discussion or decline to participate in the discussion. a nonvoting industry member may not discuss the company's position as such, but may discuss any matter in general terms. All presentations and discussions of scientific data and their interpretation on behalf of a company will occur in open session, except as provided in § 14.25(c).

(5) A nonvoting member of an advisory committee may not make any presentation to that advisory committee during a hearing conducted by that committee.

(6) Although a nonvoting member serves in a representative capacity, the nonvoting member shall exercise restraint in performing such functions and may not engage in unseemly advocacy or attempt to exert undue influence over the other members of the committee.

(d) A nonvoting member of an advisory committee may be removed by the Commissioner for failure to comply with this section as well as § 14.80(f).