Agro-Food Products of Malta Regulations, 2014

L. N. 466 of 2014

PRODUCT SAFETY ACT

(CAP. 449)

Establishment of the National Register of Traditional

Agro-Food Products of Malta Regulations, 2014

IN exercise of the powers conferred by article 38 of the Product

Safety Act, the Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and

Civil Liberties, in consultation with the Minister for Sustainable

Development, the Environment and Climate Change, has made the

following regulations

(1)

The title of these regulations is the establishment of

the National Register of Traditional Agro-Food Products of Malta

Regulations, 2014.

(2) These regulations shall apply to agricultural and agro-food

products, to gastronomic recipes and to preparations made, which fall

within the definition of "Traditional Agro-Food Products of Malta".

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires -

"applicant" means any natural or legal person or any public

body with an interest in the production and, or promotion of

traditional agro-food products of Malta;

"approved product" means a traditional agro-food product of

Malta which has been approved by the Board as such;

"Board" means the Traditional Agro-Food Products of Malta

Board constituted under regulation 7;

"Director" means the Director responsible for agriculture;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for agriculture;

"person" means any natural or legal person;

"Register" means the National Register of the Traditional Agro-

Food Products of Malta;

"Traditional Agro-Food Products of Malta" means those

products whose processing, preservation and ageing methods are

consolidated in time and have proven usage on the Maltese market for

a period that allows transmission between generations, which period

is not less than twenty-five years.

(1)

The Director shall keep a register, to be called the National

National Register of Traditional Agro-food Products of Malta, in Register

Traditional

which there shall be registered a list of approved products.

Agro-food

Products of

Malta.

(2) The inclusion of a product in the above mentioned list of

approved products shall not constitute a registration in terms of

Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 on quality schemes for agricultural

products and foodstuffs.

(3) The name of any product within the list of approved

products mentioned above shall be without prejudice to the name

chosen for the purpose of registration of a product in terms of

Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 on quality schemes for agricultural

products and foodstuffs.

(4) The inclusion of a name of a product the list shall preclude

any person from lodging an application for protection of that name

under EU and national laws concerning the intellectual and industrial

property, starting from the date of the coming into force of these

regulations.

In relation to each product, the Register shall include the Contents of

name of the product, the area of origin, a description of the product Register.

and of its processing, preservation and ageing methods, the materials

used for the product’s preparation and the product’s history and

tradition.

The Director shall cause a revised register to be published Publication of

Register.

in the Gazette on an annual basis.

The Director shall seek to promote the diffusion of the Promotion of

Register.

Register at national and international level.

(1)

There shall be set up, in accordance with the Traditional

provisions of these regulations, a Board, to be known as the Agro-Food

Products of

Traditional Agro-Food Products of Malta Board, for the purpose of Malta Board.

identifying the products which are to be included in the Register.

(2) The Board shall evaluate the product or products submitted

for the inclusion in the Register and shall decide whether such

products are to be included in the Register or not.

(3) In giving its decision, the Board shall state whether it has

approved or rejected the product as being a traditional agro-food

product of Malta and shall state its reasons for the decision.

(4) The Board shall also make recommendations to the

Minister on matters relating to the promotion of the Register.

(1)

The Board shall consist of the following members

(a)

the Director responsible for agriculture who shall

chair the Board ex-officio, or his representative;

(b)

a representative from the Technical Regulations

Division within the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs

Authority;

(c)

a representative of the Institute of Tourism, Travel

and Culture within the University of Malta;

(d)

a representative of the

Directorate

for

Diversification and Competitiveness; and

(e)

one member nominated at the Minister’s discretion.

(2) The Minister shall designate an officer of the Department to

act as Secretary of the Board.

(1)

The Director or his representative shall ex-officio

be the chairperson and shall preside over the Board.

(2) The decision of the Board shall be by a majority of votes.

The Chairperson of the Board or his representative shall have an

original vote and, in the case of an equal division of votes, also a

second or casting vote.

(3) The quorum of the Board shall consist of the chairperson

and two other members.

(4) The Board shall meet as required at such date, time and

place as the Chairperson may appoint

Provided that the Board shall meet at least twice a year.

(5) All the proceedings of the Board shall be entered in minute

form by the secretary and the names of the members present at each

meeting shall be entered in the minutes.

(6) The minutes of each meeting shall contain such

applications that have been discussed, but without any comment or

observation of the members. The reason for the decision should,

however, be recorded.

(7) The chairperson shall confirm by his signature the minutes

arising out of the business of a meeting.

(8) Subject to the provisions of these regulations, the Board

may otherwise regulate its own procedure.

(1)

The Traditional Agro-Food Products to be included Application for

inclusion in the

in the Register shall be proposed by the applicant.

Register.

(2) An application for inclusion of a product in the Register

shall be made to the Secretary of the Board on the appropriate form,

which is to be collected from the Agriculture Directorate.

(3) The application shall clearly state

(a)

the name of the product;

(b)

the area of origin;

(c)

a description of the product and of its processing,

preservation and ageing methods;

(d)

the materials used for its preparation;

(e)

a description of the premises used for the

production, processing, preservation and ageing of the product;

(f)

the product’s history and tradition;

(g)

any other information which the applicant deems

necessary.

(4) The Board may, if it deems fit, request further information

from the applicant.

(1)

The Secretary shall lay before the Board all Board to decide

on applications.

applications for inclusion of a product in the Register.

(2) The Board shall firstly decide whether all the information

requested in regulation 10 has been submitted

Provided that if the Board decides that any of the

information requested in regulation 10 is missing, the Board shall not

consider the application any longer and shall send back the

application to the applicant informing him which information is

missing.

(3) If the Board is satisfied that the information requested in

regulation 10 has been submitted, the application shall be published

in the Gazette and shall be open to a public consultation for a period

of thirty days from the date it is published in the Gazette.

Following the public consultation, the Secretary shall lay

the feedback obtained from said public consultation before the Board.

(4) The Board shall, after evaluating the application and the

feedback obtained and, if necessary, after having asked the applicant

for further information, take a decision on whether to include the

product in the Register or otherwise.

(5) The decision shall be communicated to the applicant,

indicating the reasons thereof

Provided that the decision shall be communicated to the

applicant by means of registered mail, electronic mail or sent by

hand.

(1)

The Chairperson, on being directed to do so by the

Board, shall enter the approved product in the Register.

(2) The entry shall contain the following information

(a)

the name of the product;

(b)

the area of origin;

(c)

the description of the product and of its processing,

preservation and ageing methods;

(d)

the materials used for the preparation of the

product;

(e)

the description of the premises used for the

product’s production, processing, preservation and ageing; and

(f)

the product’s history and tradition.

The decision of the Board shall be final.

€0.45