The renewals of the research funds that are given to academic projects in developed countries are generally subordinate to the researchers’ previous results. For those applicants who have occasionally been unlucky, sometimes the results of their investigations are not very encouraging. For lack of alternatives, some ask to statistician professionals that they arrange for them an “ad hoc test” to help them present comforting results to funders. One might be surprised, but sometimes statistics can convey any message you want them to say. In Morocco, ONSSA (National Office for Food Safety) also uses statistics to validate before the authorities the “perfect quality of its interventions”. Generally, outside the quantities of goods seized or destroyed, nothing of what these statistics say is interpretable. This article looks a little more closely at the safety of this approach on the part of this organization.
Implementation of food control
According to the rules, the verifications of the quality and / or safety of food products available on the market in Morocco are today still mainly assessed on the basis of analysis and tests. These checks are either kind of sensory (smell, visual inspection, touch etc.) or laboratory analysis. The advantage of laboratory tests is that they are conducted according to established rules, reproducible and verifiable whatever the technician who performs them. Sensory assessments are more uncertain although there also are rules. For example, the distinction between olive-oils of different grades is based partly on the advice of an expert in tasting of this element. Being expert means, in the circumstances, is to have knowledge and proven expertise on the subject, that is to say, recognized by his peers. Ultimately, the judgment of the quality of a product or its safety, given by an individual or through a laboratory, must meet established rules in both cases. Otherwise, not properly reasoned opinion loses its value.
Mission and Practices of ONSSA
The ONSSA is charged by the government to ensure the implementation of the Law 28-07 on food safety. To ensure the compliance of food with regulatory requirements, the implementing regulations require that foods be submitted to examinations and analyzes specified in the law. So before making any opinion on a given product, officials ONSSA should check with their technical colleagues, the qualities of the food according to the prescriptions of the Act. In an emergency, say a criminal caught red-handed in contaminating drinking water to consumers, the law allows officials to act without waiting on test results from a laboratory so to stop the danger characterized at his starting point. It also happens that the fraud on food is motivated by economic reasons, to pay fewer taxes at customs for example. The ONSSA must therefore perform analyzes so to explain to owners the refusal to accept the possibly deceptive items. Regarding the domestic market, all Moroccans had the opportunity to see officials ONSSA on public television, sometimes assisted by members of the police force, proceed with the destruction of goods that these officials have considered the consumption as dangerous to humans. There are of course situations where food processing units are so filthy that their closure is the most reasonable decision. In other cases, the apparently impeccable hygiene of workshops food argues in favor of compliance with the principles of hygiene. Viewers are then entitled to know why the goods are destroyed before the results of laboratory tests. In the meantime, the food can be blocked for sale. Under these conditions, we saw the Khlea (Khlii) and fresh chickens be destroyed while the hygiene of food stores and products seemed quite correct. The reason that these officials indicate for destruction, conducted with soldierly way, is the lack of receipt proving the purchase of these products in a traceable and / or reliable source.
Comment
If ONSSA is responsible for ensuring the application of the law, it is also supposed to abide by the terms himself first. But nowhere in the law has it said that «lack of invoice means lack of safety”. After all, the “chicken organic” is still bought in the souks and our farmers do not issue invoices for purchase while this practice is part of our heritage and our daily lives. Moreover, Moroccan ate Khlea (Khlii) for centuries. The rejection of fresh chicken that is allowed by regulations must essentially be based on the presence of the pathogen “salmonella” whose determination is made in the laboratory. But if these agents still suspect a breach of hygiene, which is their right, they would be better advised to block the product for sale pending the results of laboratory tests on representative samples from the food. Otherwise they run the risk of being dragged kicking and screaming by the court. Indeed, suppose for a moment that the owner makes request, what it is his right, to get, before bailiff, an immediate sampling of the product at issue, and do laboratory analysis on its behalf. Consider also that the results come invalidate the presumptions of officials ONSSA. The owner would be entitled to seek material and moral compensation that the court will be much obliged to grant it to him. It will be up to the state to pay for the mistakes of agents who apparently demonstrated a willingness to misuse. Now, maybe these agents think they are helping the community by doing so. They think impress other potential fraudsters and deter them from taking action. It’s possible. However, ONSSA has not been commissioned to do his work on assumptions but on hard evidence. So doing as they do, they perpetuate the bad example that we continue in Morocco to apply the law according to the practices of a time that is gone.
Finally, experience shows that a student fears the examinations. If the examiner reserves him a nice reception, the student will give the maximum from himself and increases his chances of success. But if the student is received unpleasantly, this kills the hope he had before and discourages him even more. In this regard, certain acts of ONSSA officials are still in line with the agents of the repealed Act 13-83, which assumed that all traders were cheaters until proven otherwise. Under these conditions, one must not blame the operators that show so little enthusiasm to cooperate with the guardianship. Now, ONSSA’s credibility is also related to a confident relationship with the operators. But for that, it seems like this organization will have to wait a lot more time.
