Author: Denis Tahiri
Often, before we buy, as we check the products we select in grocery stores or supermarkets, we ask ourselves: How safe are the foods we consume?
Has anyone checked them before? If so, who protects against expired foods, those with harmful chemicals or other problems, which Albanian consumers have faced many times in all these years?
The National Food Authority is the only institution in Albania, which extends throughout the country through 12 local directorates and has the sole purpose of guaranteeing the food security of Albanians.
"The creation of this institution responsible for the supervision of food safety in Albania is necessary to fulfill the legal, economic, but also social requirements.
The National Food Authority is the competent authority with inspection functions for the national management of the field of safety and consumer protection, plant protection and animal health.” These are stated on the official online website of the NFA, but can this institution really control and guarantee the food safety of 2.8 million Albanians?
The National Food Authority must guarantee that every product produced in Albania, whether agricultural, livestock, from fishing or even processed, is within the established standards.
The Albanian Center for Quality Journalism, through a request for information, addressed the National Food Authority to learn how the NFA performs its function for food safety in Albania, its organics, but also about the number of functional laboratories of this institution.
According to the official response of this institution, AKU has a total of 418 employees, of which: 99 administration and director/s (A&D), and the rest are in the inspection sectors according to the specifics of the institution, in those of inspections and controls at the border, as well as in the laboratory where the analyzes are performed.
Also, in the official response, the AKU expresses itself in relation to the analyzes carried out by it during the last three years (not counting the year 2020); about 75 thousand different laboratory analyzes were performed.
Throughout 2017, 27327 laboratory analyzes were performed, and 12242 samples were taken, of which: 5998 within the framework of official control and 6244 self-control; throughout 2018, 30631 laboratory analyzes were performed, and 15537 samples were taken, of which: 9678 within the framework of official control and 5859 self-control; throughout 2019, 17512 laboratory analyzes were performed, and 8126 samples were taken, of which: 5808 within the framework of official control and 2318 self-control; and during the period January-February 2020, 2002 laboratory analyzes were performed, and 919 samples were taken, of which: 900 within the framework of official control and 19 self-control.
The above are technical terms, figures and numbers that hardly explain whether the AKU has the situation in control at the points of import, storage, markets and food stores in Albania. We turned to the AKU again, asking for a little more clarification. Asked what are the specific analyses that this institution carries out to guarantee the food safety of Albanians, in the official response the AKU says: “Analyses are carried out more frequently regarding the qualitative indicators of animal and non-animal food products, labeling indicators and some analytical indicators of food safety, as well as analyses regarding the safety criteria of food products and those of hygiene processes ”.
To understand more, we also turned to a former Minister of Agriculture, Edmond Panariti, who had the National Food Authority under his control. To our interest, whether the NFA manages to control and provide security for the food of Albanians, Mr. Panariti answered this question with another question: “ How can you control a food that you do not analyze? ” , adding that, – laboratory control by the Institute of Food Safety and Veterinary Medicine, as well as by regional laboratories has been severely damaged. The duties and functions of these centers, provided for in the food law, have been transferred to private companies. The tracking of contaminants in the food chain and the assessment based on risk analysis is very deficient.
The problem of the lack of NFA analysis laboratories is also raised by Ersida Teliti, Executive Director of the Albanian Consumer Center.
" The problem with the NFA does not lie in the number of personnel, but in the lack of laboratories, making the ISUV the only reference system, while the NFA itself fails to conduct analyses," she says.
The former Minister of Agriculture says that AKU does not carry out food inspections today, but it does carry out inspections of documentation of origin, labels, deadlines provided for in them, conditions of storage, transport and trade.
"The AKU does not carry out food control, because it does not conduct analyses of possible contamination or adulteration, therefore we have been and remain exposed as consumers. In this regard, the AKU could very well be a section of the State Police or the Tax Police, but not a separate authority ," says the former minister, who adds that the AKU has evaded its mission and function, foreseen in the food law, to be a scientific authority and administrator of the risks of the food chain.
Meanwhile, when asked through a request for information about the amount of food that the AKU controls, this institution states: " The AKU exercises its activity by conducting official controls on all Food Business Operators (FBOs) that operate in the Republic of Albania and not by controlling quantities of food products. During the controls carried out, the inspection bodies of the AKU for entities that do not exercise their activity in accordance with the legislation in force, take the appropriate measures according to the legislation in force, referring to the violations found.
Food security, the permanent Albanian challenge
Food security is one of the important criteria for Albania to have its place in the European family, and every year in the EU's progress reports for Albania, food security occupies an important place.
"Food safety is one of the main challenges, in fact it is one of the issues and key points of Albania's progress reports in the process of its integration into the EU. During the progress reports over the years, it has been noticed that there have been improvements, but nevertheless it continues to be at the center of the problems in terms of consumer protection", says Ersida Teliti.
This is also verified in the EU progress report for Albania in 2019.
"No progress has been made in risk assessment. Official controls have been intensified and relevant measures have been applied, including warnings, fines, seizure and disposal of non-consumable food, and suspension of activity. However, the control staff is not adequately trained in the assessment and implementation of risk analysis and critical control point", - says the latest progress report, which also describes food safety in some specific sectors.
EU reports show the best that Albania has problems with food safety, but the example that shows how far from the EU we are is simple, it is enough to compare an AKU inspector and an inspector anywhere in the European Union countries.
"If you were to meet an AKU inspector today, in his pocket you will only find minutes of assessment and fines for the business he inspects.
"If you were to meet an EU food inspector, you would find a suitcase with sampling instruments, rapid analysis kits for contaminants, food adulterators, which he carries out on site and in the presence of business representatives. He shares the results with the business and at the same time notifies the central authorities, leaves tasks and deadlines for correction, but he does not issue fines and is not there for this job. The measures are taken by someone else, depending on the certified result of the control," says Mr. Panariti, also making a comparison between Albanian inspectors, who are subordinate to an institution that must achieve certain standards to help the country become part of the European Union, but, more importantly, to guarantee the health of its citizens by guaranteeing food safety.
