New agency to check food quality

Star: KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry will no longer carry out the quarantine of imported food when the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services (Maqis) comes into force later this year.
The agency will act as the regulatory body to inspect the quality of agriculture and agro-based products and to assure their safety and standard. The quarantine will come under the Agriculture and Agro-based Ministry.
Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said, however, there were still some unresolved issues that needed to be looked into before Maqis was set up.
At the moment, he said, the Health Ministry carried out certain aspects of quarantine, such as the safety and quality of meat imported into the country.
“We have to work it out with the Health Ministry,” he told reporters here yesterday after launching a national seminar on enhancing the quality of agricultural products though grading, packaging and labelling.
Muhyiddin said the Cabinet had approved the setting up of Maqis, which was proposed last year.
“We hope the matter will be brought back to the Cabinet soon for endorsement,” he added.
“We have to see if there is a need for a special law to enforce the agency. It takes a little bit of time because we need to get agreement and coordination from the relevant ministries.”
Muhyiddin said the control of import and export activities under existing regulations caused delays.
“Importers and exporters have to go to various agencies and to fill up many forms. This is not in line with the Government's objective of improving its delivery system,” he added.
Asked when the proposed agency would be operational, Muhyiddin said: “We will not implement it immediately. We will do it in stages. I believe, before the end of the year, we will be fully operational.”
In his speech, Muhyiddin said the proposed agency would coordinate quarantine, inspection, certification and issuance of export and import documents by the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority and the Agriculture Department and activities involving the fishing and farming sectors by the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia and the Veterinary Department.