Food hygiene in Malta: implementing Reg. (EC) 852/2004

This page is the hub for Malta's implementation of Reg. (EC) 852/2004. It gives the overall picture and links to the detail pages and the other jurisdictions covered in the countries pillar.

The division of powers

Malta is a small State with a centralised model: food-safety official controls are led by the Environmental Health Directorate (Superintendence of Public Health), within the Ministry for Health, while veterinary regulation covers products of animal origin. In our view what most characterises Malta is scale itself: the centralisation does not stem from an organisational choice as in the single-authority model of the Netherlands — where one body handles registration, approval and controls — but from the structure of a small State, with food safety led by the Environmental Health Directorate inside the Ministry for Health and the veterinary component covering animal origin. It is the opposite of decentralised models: in Spain the actual counterpart depends on the Autonomous Community and in Italy on the regional health authorities.

Registration and approval

Reg. 852/2004 requires every food business operator to notify each establishment to the competent authority for registration Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. In Malta this notification is made to the food-safety competent authority within the Ministry for Health. Most businesses — bars, restaurants, retail shops — are subject only to registration. Establishments handling products of animal origin (slaughterhouses, cutting plants, dairies, fishery-product establishments) may instead be subject to approval under Reg. (EC) 853/2004 Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, within veterinary regulation: an express decision that verifies the requirements before start-up. The difference between the two is explained in the concept registration vs approval.

Self-checking, training and good-practice guidance

Every food business must put in place self-checking procedures based on HACCP principles Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and ensure the training of staff who handle food Annex II, Chapter XII, point 1 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004. The regulation lets businesses apply the hygiene requirements and HACCP principles with flexibility Article 5(5) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 and encourages the development of national guides to good practice Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004: in Malta it is this national good-practice guidance that supports the business. These remain voluntary support tools: they do not replace the business's responsibility. The operational picture for training is covered in HACCP training in Malta.

Official controls and competent authorities

Official controls are organised under Reg. (EU) 2017/625 Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625, which repealed the earlier Reg. (EC) 854/2004 and 882/2004. In Malta food-safety enforcement is led by the Environmental Health Directorate within the Ministry for Health, with administrative measures provided by Maltese food law. For a comparison between the centralised Maltese model and a decentralised one, see the countries pages and the country-comparison tool.