An Expert Committee is the highest official advisory body to the Director-General of WHO as well as to all the Organization’s Member States. An Expert Committee is established by the WHO World Health Assembly (WHA) or by an Executive Board decision.
Rules of procedure
WHO Expert Committees are governed through specific rules of procedure. The Regulations for Expert Advisory Panels and Committees can be found in the WHO Basic Documents. More importantly, they can be found in the Constitution of the World Health Organization. Reference is made to Expert Committees in Chapter V, Article 18, as well as in Chapter VIII, Articles 38-40. In addition to the Constitution of the of the World Health Organization, regulations for Expert Advisory Panels and Committees are also included in a special annex entitled Rules of Procedure for Expert Committees in the Regulations for Expert Advisory Panels and Committees.
The WHO Expert Committee on Specifications for Pharmaceutical Preparations meets annually and their reports (WHO Technical Report Series) include all the adopted guidelines in the form of annexes.