Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1524591
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 JULY 2024 NEWS JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Malta failing to adequately monitor medicine, MALTA failed to notify the EU's food alert system of undeclared pharmacological substances it had found in mislabelled chicken feed, an audit has revealed. Yet again, concerns have been raised over the lack of staff able to enforce Malta's European ob- ligations on food safety. The audit of the Veterinary Regulation Directorate's food safety checks was carried out by the European Commission's Di- rectorate-General for Health and Food Safety. The audit exposed several short- comings in Malta's monitoring for residues of pharmacologically active substances, pesticides, and contaminants in animals and ani- mal products. The audit, carried out last Feb- ruary, highlighted significant deficiencies in sampling proce- dures, staff training, and testing practices, raising concerns about Malta's compliance with EU rules and the effectiveness of its food safety controls. Under EU law, member states must have control plans to be able to spot the residues of phar- macologically active substances, and chiefly detect the misuse of veterinary medicines in food-pro- ducing animals and monitor pes- ticide residues and contaminants in food. Veterinary medicines contain pharmacologically active sub- stances which may leave residues in the food from treated animals. Food may also contain residues of pesticides and contaminants to which animals have been exposed. Delayed test results hamper timely investigation The audit revealed several de- ficiencies, predominantly in non-retail settings – the stages of the supply chain before products reach consumers – such as farms, slaughterhouses, and processing plants. In contrast, retail settings are where consumers purchase final products, such as supermar- kets and local stores. While controls at the retail level carried out by the Environmental Health Directorate were general- ly adequate, significant deficien- cies existed in non-retail stages, which are crucial for preventing contaminated products from en- tering the market. Samples in the non-retail sector are taken by the Veterinary Regulation Directo- rate. One of the most notable defi- ciencies are the substantial de- lays in receiving test results for non-compliant samples, with some results arriving three to six months after sampling. This lag compromises timely investigations and follow-up ac- tions. Additionally, there is a lack of targeted sampling and insuffi- cient training for staff responsible for these tasks, contributing to procedural non-compliance with EU regulations. No alert raised for mislabelled chicken feed A significant concern highlight- ed in the report was the handling of non-compliant results. For instance, in cases involving coc- cidiostats – a compound used to control parasites in animals – the investigation traced the issue to mislabelled feed from another EU member state. This feed, contain- ing undeclared coccidiostats, was fed to poultry up to the point of slaughter. Despite identifying the source, the Maltese author- ities failed to notify the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) or inform the member state of origin, as required by EU legislation. This omission could have al- lowed potentially harmful prod- ucts to reach consumers without appropriate cross-border meas- ures to mitigate the risk. The report also highlights procedural inefficiencies in the sampling process. The 2023 National Residue Control Plan (NRCP) faced significant delays, with sampling commencing on- ly in September 2023, contrary to the EU requirement for even distribution throughout the year. Only 44% of the planned samples had been tested, with many samples awaiting analysis due to difficulties in contracting laboratories and procurement issues. For pharmacologically active substances, the report scruti- nised 15 non-compliant results identified between 2021 and 2023. In more than half of these cases, the delays in transmitting test results to the VRD ranged from three weeks to several months, further delaying inves- tigations. The VRD's procedure man- dates immediate email notifica- tion of non-compliant results, followed by a written report within five working days. How- ever, this protocol was not con- sistently followed, exacerbating delays and compromising the control system's effectiveness. Repeat offenders not flagged Additionally, the audit revealed that Maltese authorities lack a mechanism to identify recurrent non-compliances. Despite procedures stipulating administrative fines and addi- tional measures for repeated of- fenses, the system failed to flag such cases. One producer, for in- stance, had two non-compliant results within two years, yet no additional measures were taken. The issue of inadequate staff training also emerged as a signif-