OPENING SPEECH BY DR. LOUIS DEGUARA, MINISTER OF HEALTH, AT "THE REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT OF THE EUROPEAN FOOD AND DRINK INDUSTRY" SEMINAR, AT CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL, 6TH DECEMBER 2001

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

It is indeed with great pleasure that I accepted the invitation to address you during this inaugural session of this seminar dealing with the regulatory environment of the food and drink industry. The gathering here of distinguished persons involved within the food and drink industry, representatives of the regulatory agencies in Malta and experts from the European Union provides the ideal forum for a healthy discussion on this most important sector.

Food safety today is a concept that extends further than the customary plate and fork. It is not only natural, but also desirable, to accept the farm to fork principle. It is for this reason that my Government decided to prepare a food safety strategy that includes the co-operation and interaction of all the authorities that are expected to enforce the legislation. It was also decided that food safety should fall under my Ministry’s portfolio. This, apart from respecting the long standing traditional values of the Maltese public, who has always looked towards the Health Division to alleviate their concerns whenever food safety was perceived to be compromised, underscores the firm belief that food safety and the health and well-being of the population fully complement each other. Government’s intentions are clear. We do not want to leave any lacunae within the food chain and we certainly want to ensure that all the authorities concerned are in a position to act in harmony and with full awareness of their field of action.

While harmonising our legislation to that within the EU, our aim has been to deploy and utilise our limited resources to fully enforce such legislation. It would be a fatal mistake for any country to establish legislation without having the necessary mechanism to effect adequate enforcement of such legislation. Such foolheartedness would have not only been insulting to the consumer who has entrusted us with protecting his health, but would have also run the risk of being exposed, thereby undermining the credibility of the regulatory agencies.

It has to be accepted that in a field where regulation will become progressively tighter than it is at present, some might view the legislative backing to such regulation as unduly restrictive and a means of increasing the financial burden on the sector. I firmly believe this to be a wrong perception as the new legislation promotes the application of standard operating procedures, which render food processes safe. The new concept in regulation today is that of self-regulation with the authorities ensuring that such regulation actually takes place and it is up to the prescribed standards. This will in the long run be beneficial to the sector. The sector will not only face less action for redress with the accompanying undesired negative publicity, but will also experience a reduction in the payment of high legal fees in settlements and insurance claims. As consumers we all expect the best and would like to have the necessary legislative structures to ensure the best.

These new concepts are all reflected in the new Food Safety Act which is currently being discussed in Parliament and will hopefully be enacted within the next few weeks. The aim of the new Act is to ensure maximum food control, which in turn would achieve greater consumer confidence. It is Government’s commitment to leave no stone unturned to ensure the effective enforcement of the provisions of the Food Safety Act and its subsidiary legislation. Food operators unwilling to remedy their deficiencies will be controlled effectively and if necessary with impunity.

We need to engender a change in mentality across the board. Both the authorities and the industry are to be fully aware of their duties and responsibilities. From the regulatory point of view this process has started. Many of our officials have attended workshops, seminars and familiarisation visits, some through the funding of TAIEX. During this year officials from my Ministry have attended workshops designed to understand fully the directives and regulations most of which will actually be discussed during today’s programme. I am to understand that the knowledge gained by these officials has been vast and useful. I take this opportunity to thank TAIEX for their continual assistance.

As I mentioned earlier, my Government developed a strategy that ensures compliance throughout the food chain. The establishment of a Food Safety Commission is expected to outline the future of food safety in the Maltese Islands. Throughout the long drawn discussion on the local food safety strategy various considerations were taken into account. Primarily we wanted to utilise what traditional resources were available to us and we certainly did not plan to complicate matters or in any way re-invent the wheel. We have a system that has functioned satisfactorily for many years and we believe that this is an ideal launch pad to build a food strategy that would complement the EU White paper on Food Safety. We also wanted to ensure that the fine-tuning required in our system was achieved whilst ensuring adequate risk management, risk communication and risk assessment which as you are aware are the pillars of an efficient and successful strategy. We have considered the set-up of the European Food Authority and used it as guidance for the development of our strategy. Finally, in the interest of all, especially in the interest of the consumer, it was upheld that risk management should be left with the various authorities, principally the Departments of Health and Agriculture that are currently involved in the regulation of the sector. I am convinced that these authorities will function in tandem to complete the farm to fork food safety principle. In order to ensure effective risk management and enhance consumer protection, we decided on the setting up of the Food Safety Commission. The Commission will not only serve as a forum for consultation and co-ordination of all activities related to the regulation of the food sector, but will also act to ensure the effective implementation of the food safety strategy by the responsible entities.

Although the Food Safety Commission will only be legally established with the enactment of the Food Safety Act, work on the strategy has already started. A few months back, I took the initiative to get a Food Safety Commission up and running in order to acquire a head start over the introduction of the new Food Safety legislation. The composition of this commission is identical to that envisaged in the Food Safety Act. The Commission is chaired by the Director General (Health) and is composed of the highest officials from the diverse Government entities that are in some way related to food safety. The terms of reference of the commission are the same as those ascribed to the Food Safety Commission in the Food Safety Act. These can be summed up into three main areas of responsibility.

1. To ensure coordination between the authorities performing risk management through efficient planning, monitoring and auditing,
2. To acquire suitable information in order to perform risk assessment and ensuring that this information is filtered into the various Departments, and finally,
3. To communicate this wealth of information to the consumer so as to increase its confidence in the interest of a healthy nation.

I am certain that the Food Safety Commission would work towards these aims and I urge it to do so by employing a transparent and modern approach. I am informed that the FSC has been meeting regularly and has already arrived at defining the responsibilities within the food chain. It has also embarked on receiving feedback from the represented entities with respect to their current set-ups and their requirements for the future. I am further informed that they have also worked on compiling the voluminous documentation that has been relayed to the EU Commission. With this enthusiasm, I am convinced that the success of the FSC will be inevitable. I take this opportunity to congratulate them on the work achieved so far and wish them success for the future.

In addition to the Food Safety Act, two pieces of subsidiary legislation have been introduced under the current legislation. It would have been unrealistic to wait until the enactment of the new Act to get things started especially when we are dealing with such an important matter as food safety. These two important legal notices are expected to simplify the regulatory system of the food industry through obligatory registration of both premises as well as food handlers. Food operators should be aware of their responsibilities towards the consumer and it is for this reason that we believe that the knowledge of basic food hygiene should be entrenched within any operation. I urge the industry to understand this responsibility and not to delay in acting upon ensuring the employment of suitable workers. It is not our intention to unnecessarily burden the food industry but once again I reiterate that the consumer requests and is entitled to safe food.

We do understand that we do not only expect changes within the industry. It is worthwhile to note that our officials are becoming increasingly more pro-active in their approach towards enforcing food safety. We have invested in various training including auditing of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. We have also looked into other European systems through frequent familiarisation visits. We have updated our surveillance programmes. We have also recently launched a Quality Service Charter within our inspectorate. We have done all this since we believe that food safety is dynamic and improvements are required according to the needs of the day. I hope that industry is prepared to take up this challenge and begin to understand that modern principles of food safety place the onus of responsibility on the operator.

I do not wish to take much of your time because I am aware of the busy schedule ahead of you. I would though like, once again to thank TAIEX for their assistance and congratulate the organisers of this seminar. I am sure that today’s seminar will establish another step towards the achievement of a safe food environment for the benefit of us all, the consumers.

I shall end by quoting David Byrne, the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection who, during a recent interview on the European Voice, expressed this most definite opinion: "Only safe products should be on the market. That’s my bottom line."