The following are some suggested ethical guidelines....

1. The study should not affect adversely in any way to a race, ethnic group, social strata, community or geographical region,.  it may result in social stigma, isolation, healthcare benefits etc because of the study results 

2. All the samples must be de identified  and no personal identifiable information  be included in the study.

3.Bioethics committee of  your Institution  should approve use of samples for the study.

4. ALL SAMPLES ARE CONSIDERED EXEMPT FOR "INFORMED CONSENT"  IF USED FOR NON PROFIT BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AIMED AT IMPROVING THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF THE COMMUNITY . That means you need formal approval from your agency  but you do not need individual consent forms to be signed by the patients/ subjects.

What is the composition of a bioethics committee? Have such commitees all the institutions and universities? Because, I don't think that is happened in the majority. Can we avoid a committee?

You need to follow the guidelines of your country laws regarding the use of human  biological or animal samples. In some countries  the Government issues uniform guidelines to be followed by all researchers in the country. Such committees are only required in USA whereas in some countries just following the guidelines issued by their government is enough. I am not sure about your country( Greece?) regulations in this issue. You may cite the your government guidelines to justify  the use of biological samples.  then  you can bypass  approval of the study  by such committee if allowed by law.

There is no document for 'exception of ethical clarifications' - nor should you seek it. The regulations on 'secondary use' of data are steadily being tightened so that explicit consent must be given for further use of any human tissue (etc.) materials. If the original study had clear consent for 'any further research' on those samples that should be enough for your publisher. In the UK the Human Tissue Act is the appropriate legislation - but Greece should have an equivalent since most bioethical standards have EU-level regulations now. In any case you could check the European Commission website for guidance and information. If you can't find something directly related to your problem then e-mail their help desk, you will find them most helpful and informative. See: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ethics_en.html

Can you give some more details of what they are asking? What is their concern? 

OHRP's guidance on Biological Materials and Data is the regulatory benchmark publishers are verifying against here. Vidyasagar Sriramoju is correct that you must adhere to the regulatory requirements in your own country but if you're submitting to a US publisher, OHRP's Guidance on Research Involving Coded Private Information or Biological Specimens is a must. 

http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/policy/cdebiol.html

Their message was "•Any experimental research reported in the manuscript must have been performed with the approval of an appropriate ethics committee. Please clearly confirm in the Methods section whether or not your study needed ethical approval, and which bodies gave that approval or waived the need where appropriate. Please include the specific name of the ethics committee. Any experimental research on humans must be in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration (http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html). "

That is publisher-speak for "Where is your IRB protocol approval?" They want documentation of your protocol having been reviewed by your IRB in advance of the research having been conducted. If you didn't submit your protocol to an IRB in advance of conducting the research, was that because your type of research is "not involving human subjects" (see the examples described in OHRPs Guidance on Research Involving Coded Private Information or Biological Specimens)? ALSO check your own country's regulations on this issue. You must be in compliance or the publisher (at least in the U.S) is obligated to decline your manuscript. 

http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/policy/cdebiol.html

Thank you all.

When it comes to executing research of any kind, clarifying ethical issues cannot and should not be compromised. Validating research in basic research is underpinned by measures taking by the researcher to convince readers about steps taken to ensure ethical principles are followed. For a s a researcher, l consider claifying ethical issues at at point where the researcher thinks should clarify his philosophical orientations or paradigmatic positions informing the research process. Ethics for me is a sine qua non for an indepth academic work. Just as researchers are supposed to clarify and validate instruments, so it is with with clarifying ethical issues. As to where in the research is larged determined by insttutions, organisation and publishing houses requiring outcome of the research. This is in effect what l can share on this subject.

Maybe you can look at the case of Havasupai Indian Tribes of the Grand Canyon. This case is one of ethic

Ms. Martin  excellent reference  Thank you very much for providing great piece of information. I found the link about this topic.

http://genetics.ncai.org/case-study/havasupai-Tribe.cfm

Any research in human samples needs ethical clearance .  You have to submit this paper to your Institute for ethical clearance . You should have 'signed consent' of the subjects that they have consented to permit you to use the samples & are aware of what you are doing . Therefore , an informed consent is essential . Journal will not publish such research papers without ethical clearance . The only solution is to submit this study to your institute for approval & then send it for publication . I am not aware of any document for exception of ethical clearance for publication . If you have obtained ethical clearance , but the journal is asking for clarification , you can get the clarification from your ethical committee . The objective of the ethical committee is to protect the subjects of your study .

Hi,

I am sure you must have been able to resolve the situation.

For future, it is always advisable to submit your research proposal (involving human subjects/specimens) to your IRB/IEC and seek their opinion in written document. The IRB/IEC must have mentioned in their SOPs about their review procedures.

All the best.