ESTABLISMENT OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF TRADITIONAL AGRO-FOOD PRODUCTS OF MALTA REGULATIONS *

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 427.89

ESTABLISMENT OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF

TRADITIONAL AGRO-FOOD PRODUCTS OF

MALTA REGULATIONS *

16th December, 2014

LEGAL NOTICE 466 of 2014, as amended by Legal Notice 62 of 2017

and 415 of 2020.

(1) The title of these regulations is the Establishment of

the National Register of Traditional Agro-Food Products of Malta

Regulations.

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

which there shall be registered all approved products.

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

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 in the Register shall be without

*These Regulations have been transposed to Cap 639, see S.L. 639.03. - See Act

XXXIII of 2023.

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) Starting from the date of the coming into force of these

regulations * and without prejudice to Regulation (EU) No 1151/

2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs,

the inclusion of a name in the Register shall preclude any person

from lodging an application for protection of that name under EU

and national laws concerning intellectual and industrial property.

In relation to each product, the Register shall include the

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

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

in the Gazette on an annual basis.

The Director shall seek to promote the diffusion of the

Register at national and international level.

(1) There shall be set up, in accordance with the provisions

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

Food Products of Malta Board, for the purpose of 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 Agriculture Directorate;

(c) a representative from the Technical Regulations

Division within the Malta Competition and Consumer

Affairs Authority;

(d) a representative of the Institute of Tourism, Travel and

Culture within the University of Malta;

(e) a representative of the Institute of Tourism Studies;

(f)

a representative of the Institute of Maltese Studies

within the University of Malta;

(g) a representative of the Platform for Mediterranean

Foodways within the Mediterranean Institute within

*

refers to the regulations promulgated by Legal Notice 62 of 2017 - 21st February,

2017. the University of Malta;

(h) a representative from the Superintendence of Cultural

Heritage (or from the Culture Directorate);

(i)

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 in

the Register shall be proposed by the applicant.

(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

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.

These regulations have been notified in terms of Directive

2015/1535 EC which consolidates Directive 98/34 EC as

transposed by the Notification Procedure Regulation 2003.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF

TRADITIONAL AGRO-FOOD PRODUCTS OF MALTA