Outdated legislation reviewed

“It’s very important because what a legislation like this does is, it sets a framework by which a ministry operates and so what the government is trying to do is to ensure that it has a legal basis for the M.A.F to operate to the best benefit of Samoa…”

The fifty-five-year-old Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries ordinance which provides for the institutional framework of the, then, Department of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries, will soon get its much-needed update.

In 2003, under the Ministerial and Departmental Arrangements Act of 2003, the department had been re-established as the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

However, the 1959 ordinance had not been revised to reflect the change.

“We have to revise legislation in order to update it to reflect the reality of today, the one that we are reviewing (the 1959 ordinance) is absolutely out dated and it’s a must,” said the Chief Executive Officer of Ministry of Agriculture and

Fisheries, Fonoiava S Sesega.

He was speaking during a validation workshop-conference held on Friday.

“This has been a long overdue,” he said.

The revision for the said bill is now underway after the government approached the Food and Agriculture Organization (F.A.O.) to provide technical support.

The revision started in June and it is intended to result in the submission to the Government of a final draft bill at the beginning of December.

Gavin Wall, F.A.O. Sub-Regional Coordinator for the Pacific, spoke at the meeting.

“It’s very important because what a legislation like this does is, it sets a framework by which a ministry operates and so what the government is trying to do is to ensure that it has a legal basis for the M.A.F to operate to the best benefit of Samoa… if we don’t get the framework right then the ministry isn’t charged to move exactly the right direction,” he said.

According to Peter Deupmann, F.A.O Legal Officer, the key points (of the revised bill/draft bill) are that it provides a framework for the ministry to operate on the basis of a number of modern principles of management in agriculture and fisheries and then it provides powers and functions of both the ministry and the chief executive officer.

He said that the most visible difference between the 1959 ordinance and the draft bill is in relation to the agriculture, fisheries and forestry, that department doesn’t exist any longer… there were a number of other issues where the reference to existing legislation was too old that is not in place any longer also these modern management principles were not reflected and there was much less clarity and detail on the different function.

In his address during the validation workshop, Mr. Wall, said that “institutions function effectively only if suitable legal and policy frameworks are in place to support the institutions in discharging their functions and fulfilling their mandates.

“Such legal frameworks clearly set out the responsibilities and the powers of these institutions. In so doing, they further participation and equity, they guard against discrimination, they require holistic and sustainable approaches, and they foster transparency and accountability.”

He added that they have been able to bring their long-standing experience in assisting F.A.O’s member countries to strengthen national legislation. He said that a fundamental tenet of their approach to assisting member countries is that the work must be stakeholder driven and consultative.

“This recognizes the imperative of ensuring that national realities are reflected and represented in legislative drafting processes,” he said.

“Involvement of stakeholders and nationals, including experts form a variety of fields, is important to ensure that all available information is considered and that national processes and procedures as well as traditions are respected.”

“When you think of what the world was like in 1959, ministry of or department of agriculture didn’t know about terms such as bio-security or ecosystems approach or sustainability or biodiversity so the world has change a great deal from 1959 to now and the things the ministry needs to worry about, the things the people of Samoa want the ministry to worry about need to be redefine so that’s a lot of what happening here.”

After a final review by F.A.O., the draft bill will be presented to the government.

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