Ministry attributes 2-year food safety rules delay to funding gaps
The Food Safety Act, which came into force in 2024, requires 14 regulations to be drafted and gazetted within three months.
The Ministry of Health Maldives has said delays in implementing regulations under the Food Safety Act were due to funding constraints.
Officials from the ministry appeared before the People’s Majlis Regulations Committee on Tuesday to respond to questions on the issue.
The Food Safety Act, which came into force in 2024, requires 14 regulations to be drafted and gazetted within three months. To date, two regulations have been gazetted.
Deputy Minister Ismail Zahir said the drafting process required technical input and funding that was not available through the state budget.
He said the ministry later sought support from the World Health Organization, but the funds received were not sufficient to proceed.
According to the deputy minister, funding was later secured through the Asian Development Bank, allowing the ministry to contract parties to prepare the remaining regulations.
He said regulations for the National Food Safety Quality Board and for food advertising have already been gazetted.
Several regulations remain pending. These include rules on food labelling and packaging, food service establishments, import and export of food, food sampling, testing of drinking water, disposal of food items, and breast milk substitutes.
The ministry said three regulations have been submitted to the President’s Office for gazetting, two have been sent to the Attorney General’s Office Maldives, one is being prepared for submission, and six are in draft form.
Ismail said regulations submitted for gazetting are expected to be published within this month, while those under preparation may be completed by June or July.
“We acknowledge that these regulations have been delayed. The absence of these regulations has affected enforcement,” he said.
He added that procurement procedures linked to ADB funding also contributed to the timeline.
