The Malta Standards Authority carried out a total of 518 inspections at local retail outlets and others in 2009. A total of 2,227 different products have been inspected for compliance to their applicable EU Directives/Standards. Products inspected included pesticides, detergents, lifts, cosmetics, toys, electrical equipment as well household appliances, amongst others. The inspections were carried out around the Maltese Islands including Gozo. Economic outlets visited included retail outlets ranging from small village shops to supermarkets, importers’ warehouses, as well as market stalls.

The Officers of the Authority also held meetings and/or communicated with various stakeholders connected with product safety a total of 424 communication exercises were carried out during this period. These exercises ranged from one-to-one meetings with economic operators, to generic letters and e-mails highlighting the responsibilities of sectors of economic operators, to meetings with Associations and fora of economic operators as well as radio and television broadcasts on local media.

The past year has seen no less than 381 samples being elevated from the market. These samples ranged from a diverse range of products and product types, including, amongst others, electrical and electronic equipment, lighters, toys, pesticides, cosmetics and also pyrotechnic articles. Again these samples have been elevated from different economic operators around the Maltese islands to ensure as much as possible that action taken is fairly distributed amongst economic operators. The samples elevated were inspected and tested as required to ensure compliance of the products to legal requirements, which include legal notices, directives and harmonized standards. A total of 179 samples were tested in laboratories overseas to ensure compliance.

The number of complaints received from consumers and economic operators in 2009 upon which the Market Surveillance Directorate within the Authority has taken actions amounted to 174. The complaints covered a wide range of products and product types and the nature of the complaints varied from inadequate warnings on product labelling to incidents involving consumers being injured through the use of unsafe products.

During 2009, a total of 14 products encountered on the Maltese market were found to be unsafe and notified on the RAPEX system. The products notified to the European Commission were 6 electrical appliances, 2 types of lighters, 3 chemical products, 2 toys and 1 food imitating product. Moreover 95 reactions were made to notifications done on RAPEX of products found on the local market. These reactions included mainly motor vehicles.

Two samples of locally grown food were also found to contain levels of pesticides above the maximum residue level (MRL) acceptable. In one case, the product was banned from being placed on the market whilst in the other instance action was taken against the farmer concerned. One consignment of illegal pesticides was also found at the border and the consignment was detained. This action was taken in conjunction with Customs. Legal action was also taken against the importer of these pesticides.

The Malta Standards Authority was also busy at European level, with participation in the mandatory fora such as the GPSD committee and EFSA committees as well as in voluntary fora such as Prosafe and EMARS II. The former fora are managed by the European Commission whilst Prosafe is an informal forum of market surveillance officers of Europe.

EMARS II is a programme currently run by Prosafe and in which the Malta Standards Authority has been active. A number of task groups have been established under EMARS II which deal with enhancing market surveillance operations through adopting a best practise approach between member states. Malta is active in 5 such groups which include training, best practice, continual improvement, standards and risk assessment. These fora are considered indispensable for improving the operations of market surveillance in Malta through knowledge sharing, exchange of officials and reference contacts in case of problems encountered.

The Malta Standards Authority, in line with the requirements of Regulation 765/2008 has launched and published the National Market Surveillance Programme for Malta which gives an overview of the market surveillance operations in Malta; this can be accessed on the Authority’s website. http://www.msa.org.mt

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