Niue, Palau, Samoa, Timor Leste, Tonga
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Final Technical Report : Assessment of seafood safety standards in Pacific ACP countries : Niue, Palau, Samoa, Timor Leste, Tonga. Ref. CU/PE1/SI/10/003 RAPPORT Submitted by: Assessment of seafood safety standards in Pacific ACP Project Title countries Project Number CU/PE1/SI/10/003 Palau, Niue, Samoa, Timor Country Leste, Tonga 1 Contracting Authority EC Consultant Name IBF International Consulting 209A Avenue Louise Address B-1050 Brussels, Belgium Tel. Number +32 2 237 09 00 Fax number +32 2 230 46 49 [email protected] E-mail Contact persons Frédéric André, Director Patrick Messina, Project Manager Signatures Date of report : 18/04/2011 Authors of report : Richard Chivers, Christine Froese Any opinions expressed in this report remain those of the Consultant/IBF International Consulting and do not represent the opinion of the European Commission or ACP FISH 2. 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 5 APPROACH TO ASSIGNMENT ................................................................................................ 8 ORGANISATION AND METHODOLOGY .............................................................................. 9 ANNEX I: TERMS OF REFERENCE ...................................................................................... 11 ANNEX 2: INTERIM TECHNICAL REPORT ....................................................................... 22 ANNEX 3: NIUE ISLAND .......................................................................................................... 31 ANNEX 4: PALAU ...................................................................................................................... 72 ANNEX 5: SAMOA ................................................................................................................... 101 ANNEX 6: TIMOR LESTE ...................................................................................................... 133 ANNEX 7: TONGA ................................................................................................................... 158 3 Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank all the members of the five fisheries departments visited, who at short notice put aside their time and drew on their resources to ensure full support for the mission and the best result for advancing their countries fishing industries 4 Executive summary This mission was undertaken by two experts from the European Union; the team leader, Richard Chivers, a specialist in food safety, legislation and fish handling and Dr Christine Froese a specialist in legislation, food safety and laboratories. The mission, which started on 10th April 2011 and ended on 30th May 2011, covered these Pacific Island Countries: Samoa, Niue, Palau, Tonga, and Timor Leste. The aim of the mission was to ‗Identify and collect national legislation and policies dealing with seafood safety and food production, to review and analyse the documentation and to assess the relevance of existing seafood safety and food production standards‘ The individual country summaries are given below and one generic recommendation was made for research into the EU demand for fish from the Western Pacific with the aim of giving the private sector an incentive to market development. The findings for each country were as follows: Niue Niue‘s legislation is mainly concerned with fishery management and is not The island has no fishing fleet and no landing facilities. A factory established some years ago failed on account of these restrictions and is mothballed. There are only two fishery staff. In these circumstances and given the high cost of running a Competent Authority it is unfortunately almost inconceivable task to create an export business to any country, let alone one as distant as the EU. Recommendations were made for: 1. Allocation of official controls over fishery products and development of new Food Safety Regulations 2. That the Government complete, have approved and implemented the Management and Development Plan for Fishery as required by legislation 3. That policy development and a cost-benefit analysis is undertaken to assess the viability of the EU market and that trade with the EU is approached step by step by developing export capacities and aligning legislation first. 4. That Niue works on a strategy of how to develop their inspection system over time. Whether there really is a need for increased capacity must be an element in the equation and f there is then training in these areas is recommended. a. Inspection and certification b. Training inspectors in implementing the Food Safety Regulations c. Upgrading the wharf (priority) 5. That Niue does not pursue accredited laboratory facilities until such time as it has established a regional export trade. 6. That Niue produces fishery products national guidelines (codes of practice) Palau Legislation in Palau is almost exclusively directed towards fishery management. There are clauses in the draft Marine Living Resources Actregulations that refer to safety, quality and inspection of product but go no further than that. The first interest of Palau is to manage its inshore resource, which was overfished and redeem a protein source for its population. After that interest turns to the tourist trade associated with fish and the marine environment and finally offshore resources. There are two fish exporting companies. One Taiwanese and one Japanese owned and are supplied by their own or contracted longliners catching yellow fin and bigeye tuna. The fish is mostly exported fresh by airfreight to Japan. The Bureau of Marine Resources is overstretched and the Bureau of Public Health were unable to provide any legislstion that related to food inspection other than draft Environmental Health regulations that had been in abeyance for several years and held very little that would satisfy EU export requirements. Recommedations were made for: Assistance with drawing up legislation that would suit the rergional markets rather than the EU market Training in fish quality, fish handling, basic hazard analysis and sampling and testing techniques. Samoa Currently legislation is divided between recent drafts and old existing laws. It was envisaged that new legislation in a more up to date, ‗farm to fork‘ form should be formulated but that 6 equivalence to the EU food package would be a step too far, creating difficulties for the private sector, which has no interest in the EU market and for the fisheries inspectorate which requires time to help build a modern risk based approach to official controls. Recommendations were made for training, legislation, and the development of national fisheries standards guidelines. Timor Leste Timor Leste is in the process of nation building and is not yet in a position to offer an export market, at a conservative estimate it will not be able to do so for 10 years due the lack of infrastructure currently available for example: there is no consistent electricity supply, the fisheries department has no internet link, the staff are not equipped with basic inspection equipment such as digital thermometers, there is no laboratory suitable for testing samples. Added to the inspection services‘ difficulties, the nation‘s fishing industry is artisanal, landing facilities are limited, there are no fishery data and little market for fish on the coast, let alone in land. To ask the Government to develop a Competent Authority at present is pointless and would be counterproductive as it and the accompanying legislation would create barriers to industry growth. The following recommendations were made: 1. That training be provided in a generic knowledge of fish quality and safety 2. That training in the following areas be provided: a. The general principles of EU legislation b. The general principles of laboratory testing of fish c. Training trainers of small groups including members of the Directorate of Fisheries and also members of the private sector, such as fishermen and fish sellers 3. That assistance with drafting legislation and standards is provided from donor resources That a policy for developing fish sales within the country be developed as a foundation for an understanding of fish quality. Tonga Tonga‘s fishing industry is in decline due to lack of fish stocks, and the high costs, which between them are squeezing the margins and making the private sector unviable. The Government wishes to see growth in the sector and considers that the EU market represents a better option that the regional (Pacific Rim) market; on that basis it wishes to change its fishery products law to have equivalence with the EU‘s and to create a Competent Authority. Currently the Tongan food law is out of date but is due to be changed shortly. 7 Recommendations were made that: 1. A strategy is developed by the Government to determine how the changes could be made without harming the private sector and that expert opinion be sought on food control regulations prior to putting to Cabinet 2. That National Guidelines (Codes of Practice) are drawn up for fishery products 3. That the Ministry to seek donor assistance in the creation of a CA 4. That market research is carried out into the reality of the European market for Pacific fish Approach to Assignment The two person mission of the ACP Fish II project ‗Assessment of seafood safety standards in Pacific ACP countries‘ visited five Pacific Island countries bewteen 11th April and 31st May 2011. The team comprised two experts in food safety,