We learn all our life
After opening the ISBB (Institut Supérieur de Biologie et de Biochimie) 1 in 1992, we held an open house for a few days annually. During one of these sessions, I remember the question of a pharmacist in charge of a medical laboratory in Casablanca, which was that instead of the two years of the course, we should train technicians on at least three years. When I asked whether he had himself technicians in his lab, his answer was “yes” and on how they have been trained, he replied “on the job”. This means that they indeed analyzed blood of sick people without preliminary knowledge how that kind of practices should be carried out. But if the trainee learns from his mistakes, it is appropriate to consider that it is the patients who paid the price in this case for they probably received distorted medical analysis results. In this regard, it is common in the case of PhD students, after they complete their degrees, that they follow a postdoctoral training within an appropriate structure where they learn how to solve real questions of their future career. On a general level, learning on a scale or other, has a cost and that price is the lowest in a suitable structure whatever work we need to learn. Regarding the food industry, Morocco has recently adopted, for the first time in its post-protectorate history, the 28-07 Act on the safety of food products similar to those prevalent in developed countries. It remains to be seen whether operators are those who are going to suffer from traineeship of officials ONSSA on this new regulation. The article addresses this topic by relying on imports of gelatin.
Gelatin, ubiquitous in processed foods
For the food industry, gelatin substance virtually tasteless and odorless, is an essential adjunct, as an additive or ingredient for the production of countless food products ranging from drinks and juices, the confectionery and pastry canning of animal and vegetable origin, milk products such as yogurt, margarine and others. It is used for its properties of thickener, stabilizer and many others. In Europe, three-quarters of the gelatin for food is derived from by-products (bones and hides) of slaughtering pigs. But it is also made from byproducts of other animals such as beef, poultry and fish; as it may also be of plant origin. After the emergence of mad cow disease, specific regulations (European, American and others) govern the production of gelatin for human consumption in food but also through pharmaceutical products and cosmetic ones. This to avoid contamination by agents of disease spread above-mentioned. For us other Muslim countries, the gelatin must come from a Halal animal, slaughtered according to Muslim ritual and the final product also processed conforming to Halal standards. These requirements are specified in the 28-07 Act of food safety and the provisions adopted for its implementation. In this respect, ONSSA has recently circulated a copy of a veterinary health certificate with the idea, a priori, to facilitate trade of this substance on the domestic market. But the result seems not to be the one the ONSSA was expecting. Indeed, there are currently many batches of this substance that are stopped at the port of Casablanca without letting the operators know when the lockout will be lifted.
Blockage in the form
The model certificate issued in May last by ONSSA to embassies in Rabat for approbation by the relevant services of their countries of origin, and then the operators to include the document in the gelatin exporting file for Moroccan market, is based on a paper of the European Union (see here and here). The available information shows that several countries, providers of gelatin, turned a deaf ear to the request of the supervisory authority of our food industry. Topping the list, there is France that proposes, instead of Moroccan certificate, her own model, which is also similar to European document, that this country considers more appropriate to the needs of ONSSA. This blog has a copy of model ONSSA and the one proposed by France. If the similarity between the two documents and the model of the EU is not in doubt, the certificate of Morocco requires, in addition, that the animal of origin be Halal and be slaughtered according to Muslim ritual (in an authorized abattoir) and the gelatin be produced by a protocol in accordance with Halal Moroccan standard for kind of process or an equivalent standard. The importer of the goods must therefore produce appropriate documentation from a religious authority showing conformity of the gelatin with these requirements, including certification for Halal slaughter.
Implications of the blockage
As supervisory authority on the national agribusiness, the ONSSA has an obligation to enforce the Moroccan regulations on the domestic market including the prohibition of access for foreign non-conforming products. There is nothing wrong per se in this process. On the other hand, if an operator, whose merchandise may be correct is blocked at customs, with storage costs that increases with every passing day, shall have to wait until diplomats of a foreign country decide on the fate of the ONSSA certificate, it’s probably gone for a long wait. Meanwhile, we sort of inflicting punishment for a problem (diplomatic decision mentioned) on which it has no control. The WTO (World Trade Organization) recommends that in such cases the competent authority, which stopped the product, has an obligation to show the operator the shortest way to reach an exit, that is to say the removal of the blockage. This solution is inconsistent, in my opinion, with the path through the above mentioned “diplomatic” route. In this respect, our new regulations deal, in the implementing decree of 2011 (see here), in Articles 47 and following, of criteria to be fulfilled for a food product to gain access to the Moroccan local market. If the operators concerned are able to demonstrate by any suitable means that their gelatin products conform to the requirements of 28-07 Act, there is no reason that the Moroccan border authorities have to impose improperly delays on these business professionals that put at risk the commercial activity of these importers. About it, the FDA, reference organization for what concerns the safety of food and drugs in the world, asks first of all of operators to comply with US rules if they intend selling goods that are under her jurisdiction on the American market. To this end, she enters names and addresses of companies and what they produce and by what methods. Then she says it clearly that cheating will see US market closing in front of fraudulent operators with, if necessary, prosecution and fines that erases everything that the cheater has won before. After that, it is up to the operators in general and importers in particular, if they want to trade on the US market to comply with the rules. This can apply at home.
What about the release of blocked products
In short, everything suggests that ONSSA officials are familiarizing themselves with a law of international stature. Now, it seems likely that the operators are the people who are going to pay the damage so the traineeship of officials ONSSA has to be accomplished. But given the wide use of gelatin in the food sector, the mentioned blockage does not seem to bode well for the continuation of the implementation of the new regulation by the operators concerned. In the past, I had to intervene, together with an American audit firm with whom I was collaborating, for finding solutions, for European and Moroccan operators that asked us for, for speeding up the transit of goods entering the US market and I know, contrary to a popular perception largely false, how the FDA looks to contributing proactively in finding rapid appropriate solutions. Now, finding solutions to technical problems of operators are not the mission of the FDA, and also not the one of the ONSSA, but agents of the federal authority can help them find suitable consulting firms that can do. It is highly time for officials ONSSA to stop competing with private players so that a genuine implementation of the 28-07 Act can start.
1: The ISBB, which opened in 1992, has been very successful in terms of the rapid integration of technician graduates in the national productive fabric. But for the price paid by the candidates, the structure was not profitable and, instead, there is now the LEAA (Laboratoire Essadki d’Analyses Alimentaires).
