Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/682623
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 MAY 2016 26 Letters MALTA'S Freeport is still an area of con- cern to US state department authorities over the potential movement of weapons of mass destruction and missile-related items through the port, where almost one-third of all international maritime traffic passes through. In the latest US congressional budget justification for foreign operations, the US is proposing a USD470,000 spend on Malta in military training funds and assistance under the Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related Programs (NADR) account. The report has once again made men- tion of the presence of the Iranian state- owned shipping line, which made the Freeport its Mediterranean hub in 2004. Foreign Minister Michael Frendo has told MaltaToday the matter is effec- tively dealt with by Malta Freeport and the authorities who operate the VACIS container scanner effectively, a system installed with US assistance. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has re- ceived no reports that the checks made at Malta Freeport, at any time, provide any indication in relation to weapons of mass destruction and dual-use material." Last year, a joint report by the US de- partments of state and defence described Malta Freeport as a "potentially serious weapons of mass destruction (WMD) transhipment threat." "The threat of WMD and dual-use ma- terial transhipment through the Maltese Freeport is potentially serious… Also, Malta is close to other states of interest (Libya and Algeria)," the annual report stated. Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Mi- chael Frendo told parliament that the Is- lamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line at the Malta Freeport had been "mentioned" in certain meetings with foreign officials, although he refrained from mentioning which countries these were. Frendo said he informed officials that the IRISL ran a commercial activity and that the Maltese authorities were en- gaged in fighting any sort of abuse in the transportation of merchandise. He reminded parliament that the Freeport was also operating the VACIS container scanner. The VACIS scanner was one of the do- nations from the US government which is expected to be upgraded through a USD375,000 spend to assist the govern- ment in increasing its daily container in- spection rate. Described by the congressional report as having been "responsive" to requests related to the "Global War on Terror- ism", Malta has been the beneficiary of millions in funds from the USA and oth- er equipment such as the VACIS scanner and the infamous PISCES system – Malta is the only EU member state to operate the information database for incoming passengers along with countries such as Iraq. Freeport still of concern to US over WMD transhipment Send your letters to: The Editor, MaltaToday, MediaToday Ltd. Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 | Fax: (356) 21 385075 E-mail: newsroom@mediatoday.com.mt. Letters to the Editor should be concise. No pen names are accepted. EC verified Maltese controls on animal feed 'Malta at centre of organic food fraud' (8 May, 2016) reported an investigation by Italian authorities called 'Vertical Bio'. The MCCAA and the Agriculture Department rebut several allega- tions made in the article, to give readers a more complete picture than that which emerges from the Italian declarations to the media, which did not seek the competent Maltese authority's views during the investigation, and to re-assure them concerning the vigilance exercised by Maltese authorities on these products in terms of the ap- plicable European legislation. The investigation referred to goes back to an incident over one sole shipment passing through Malta which occurred in 2012. This investigation appears to have been initiated, following fraud scandals in Italy in previous years, which had dented the credibility of Italian producers, at the prompting of the commercial lobby of Italian organic producers. The former ministry responsible for agriculture immediately took steps to clarify in detail its control activities in that specific case, and to ask this organization to with- draw its baseless allegations, and to point out its conflict of interest in this field (the same lobby also offered rival commercial services of certification in third countries through Italian embassies). The case in question concerned a first-time transhipment of cere- als intended for animal feed from Moldova, which was not unloaded in Malta but only sampled by the Control Authority in Malta (MC- CAA) before being dispatched to be kept in a customs warehouse in Italy, in line with instructions sent to the Italian Customs Authorities by the Malta Customs. It must be pointed that the Italian authorities seized these goods fol- lowing tests which were conducted on the consignments after these had been lying for a number of weeks in grain warehouses in Italy. Following a letter shared by Italian authorities in the first quarter of 2014 within the EU channels refer- ring to two investigative operations carried out concerning food and feed originating from third coun- tries, Malta felt compelled to write to the European Commission to clarify further its own role in ensur- ing border controls on the basis of a factual and detailed chronology. The EU Commission subsequent- ly carried out a mission in Malta through its Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) as well as DG Agri- culture, and after examining all the facts and documentation in detail, issued a report which supports the view of the Maltese authorities that legislation and systems were in fact in place in conformity with EU legislation and that revisions to continue improving and upgrading these systems had been under- taken, in spite of the very small amount of producers and imports which the system needs to cater for. The EU Commission specifically did not include any comment or reference in its report as concerns shortcomings on the part of that case which involved Malta. Since 2012, the Maltese competent authority has never been contacted by Italian investigators to provide information in the context of their investigations, although there has been at least one recent case where Italian authorities have initiated investigations based on a flagging by the Maltese authorities. The Agriculture Directorate has endeavoured to continue revis- ing and improving the control systems in place and over the past few years has revised the legisla- tion in force as well as continued to bolster market surveillance and controls, both on imports as well as produce sold at retail in Malta, and on Maltese producers, including through the MCCAA as the official control authority. This has resulted in a number of investigations both upon own initiative or following complaints, as well as corrective actions taken, which have also included suspension of licences for certain operators found in breach. This system was audited success- fully once again by the EU Com- mission in the context of controls on Maltese producers in 2015, and more generally over recent weeks, where a final report from the FVO is being awaited. The competent authority has not seen the report by the Pesaro judge. However in this article, it is stated that this judge in charge of the investigations, said that "D'Aprile controls both the Maltese Regula- tory Body, the MCCAA and the Delva Corporation". We consider such statements as being prepos- terous as MCCAA's operations are audited externally by independent firms. Considering also that the compe- tent authority has never received any information, evidence, or even request for information or collaboration by these investiga- tive authorities, we leave it to your readers to conclude how substanti- ated the allegations concerning the Maltese authorities' controls can actually be. James J Piscopo Communications Coordinator Parliamentary Secretariat for Agriculture, Fisheries & Animal Rights 21 May 2006 Usurping use of Villa Parisio Mr Robert Hornyold Strickland's letter "Setting the record straight" (15 May) does nothing of the sort. On the contrary, it misleads readers through misinterpreta- tion. Once again, he was also selective in quoting from Ms Mabel Strickland's will. To set the record straight, we would like readers to see Ms Strickland's will, a copy of which we are enclosing with this letter and which we would like the newspaper to publish. We are confident that, on read- ing it, they will see that Villa Parisio was intended by Ms Strickland to serve as the seat of the Strickland Foundation. Mr Hornyold-Strickland is usurping the use of Villa Parisio in direct violation of Ms Strickland's wishes as expressed in her will. Ronald Agius Acting Chairman Strickland Foundation Coast Road kiosk The Planning Authority would like to clarify that the recently submitted planning ap- plication for the 'Location of mobile kiosk and ancillary facilities (tables and chairs)' referred to in the article ('Coast Road: Now government applies for kiosk', 15 May) at Triq is-Salina was made by a private appli- cant in the name of Charles Micallef, who is not a public officer or applying on behalf of a government ministry, agency or department. The error is the result of the wrong box having been ticked, whereby the applicant makes a declaration pertaining to the land ownership status in relation to the submitted site plan. The authority deems the error to be genuine, given that the applicant had also submitted a copy of the notification letter sent to the Commissioner of Lands. Earlier this month, the authority issued Circular 2/16 notifying all Periti, that with immediate effect, all applications proposals on government property should not only include a copy of the "Applicant's Notifica- tion to Owner" (Form PA1/16), but should also be accompanied by a clearance from the Government Property Division, stating that the division finds no objection in principle to the submission of an application on the site in question for the proposed development. This provision applies to all Development Planning Applications, Screening Requests and notifications in terms of the Develop- ment Notification Order. Peter Gingell PR & Communications Manager Planning Authority