The Norwegian Food Safety Authority

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority

The Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet), with its head office in Oslo, is a joint subordinate agency under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs.

It is a governmental body, operating on a national basis, whose aim is to ensure that food and drinking water are as safe and healthy as possible for consumers.

Another result of the food reform was the new Food Law which merged from 13 laws from relevant sectors.

Now one body of authority ensures the safety of food all the way from which feeding stuffs are used for animals until the food is sold in stores or served in restaurants. The Food Safety Authority also monitors plant, fish and animal health.

Three levels of administration
The Norwegian Food Safety Authority comprises three administrative levels, and has some 1300 employees. The head office is mainly located in Oslo, whilst there are eight regional and 62 district offices.

The head office is responsible for co-ordinating the organisation's activities including, preparation of new legislation eradication of animal diseases and the continuous monitoring of the food chain in general, including animal welfare issues, hereunder inspections of farms, establishments and undertakings.

The head office has recently been reorganized, and now consists of three departments in addition to the staff of the Director General. The three departments are: the Department of Administration (located in Brumunddal, Sortland and Oslo), the Department of Legislation (located in Bergen, Sandnes, As and Oslo) and the Department of Controls (located in Bergen, Sandnes, As and Oslo).

The regional offices are responsible for coordinating and reporting the activities among the district offices. It is the district offices that carry out most of the practical food law enforcement work and thus form a vital foundation for the organisation as a whole.

The food authority has offices throughout the country. This means that the authority can be close to the consumers and businesses.

Responsible for risk management
The Authority is responsible for risk management and it ensures that relevant rules are followed at all stages. At the district level the Authority conducts inspections and makes decisions. Complaints concerning decisions made by the local level may be appealed to the next level.

The adoption of regulations is primarily done by the ministries, but the Food Safety Authority assists the ministries by preparing and suggesting texts. An exception to this rule is that the Authority itself adopts regulations that are extremely technical and not deemed to be of a political nature.

From fjord to table
The Food Safety Authority is responsible for providing guidance to the regulations and also for supervision and monitoring of the entire production chain from fjord to table.

Other responsibilities of the Food Safety Authority are related to export of seafood and an ongoing dialogue with other countries’ supervisory authorities.

Keeps lists of seafood companies
The Authority has to approve and keep lists of seafood companies in the categories fish feed, shellfish reception, refrigerator vessels, shore facilities and factory ships. It is also responsibile for classification and supervision of areas for shellfish production seing to that approval and classification is done in accordance with EU/EEA harmonised regulations.

Its work vis-à-vis the companies includes supervision of the placement and inspection of access, operational and building hygiene, cooling and freezing plant, water and ice, vermin suppression, cleaning, waste disposal and training and health checks of employees.

Important elements of the inspection are the auditing of the undertakings’ internal control systems, and random sampling by means of inspection and sampling for analysis. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority is responsible for implementing and reporting the national seafood safety monitoring programme.

Supporting and informing the administration
The Food Safety Authority’s and the fisheries authorities’ scientific management support is provided primarily by the National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research (NIFES), the Institute of Marine Research and the National Veterinary Institute.

Other management bodies that supply management support of relevance to seafood safety are the Norwegian Medicines Authority, the National Pollution Control Authority and the Norwegian Institute of Fisheries and Aquaculture Research. Universities, colleges and other research institutions contribute additionally.

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