In Focus

Food Modernisation Act

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You Are ReadingVol. 01 Issue. 06

April 26, 2013 Edition

EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT & SMEs

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“The statement of employment particulars will contain the name of the employee, the name and address of the employer, the date of the commencement of the employment and the period of continuous employment, pay dates, the time of month and frequency of payment,

working hours, length of notice to be given prior to termination; whether there will be inclusion of Collective Agreements and any periods of probation and NIS or PAYE deductions”. While most employers would see these things as standard requirements in any employment contract, the Act has been written to offer protection to domestics workers (among others) for whom no current standards exist.

The Act also speaks very clearly to the issue of unfair dismissal for any reason not related to an employee’s conduct.

An employee for example could not be dismissed for refusal to carry out

a job w h i c h they think could be injurious to them.

The Act removes from employers the use of termination as a first resort but seeks to direct a path of escalating procedures. Most important it is noted,

past history cannot be used as future justification for termination. Remarkably the Act provides for written warnings to be deleted from the employee’s records after one year.

Employers however reserve the right to terminate when all else has failed while the law still facilitates employees who want to bring their case before the Employment Rights Tribunal.

SMEs should be aware that just like the SHAW Act, the ERA gives the Chief Labour Officer the authority to enter into private households and perform inspections by day or night. Employers will be given six months to comply and can see a copy of the Act by clicking on this link The SBA will keep its members updated on this new Act as well as provide any reasonable assistance as they move towards compliance..

Close on the heels of the Safety and Health at Work Act SMEs now have to face the requirements of the recently proclaimed and much vaunted Employment Rights Act (ERA) 2012-9. With the passage of this Act employers will now have to reexamine their employment practices and employees will have some comfort in knowing that their rights are being protected. The Act bolsters the other Acts in the labour relations arsenal including the Shops Act, Holiday with Pay Act and the Employment ( M i s c e l l a n e o u s Provisions) Act. The Act has ramification for both employees and employers and should be seen as offering a measure of guidance and protection for both parties.

“Contained in the Act are requirements for employees to have a written statement of particulars of payment; the right to a written statement of employment particulars; the right to be consulted before being placed on short time or laid off; the right to priority re-hiring in certain cases, if dismissed for redundancy; the right, where employment has ended, to a certificate giving the particulars of the employment; the right not to be unfairly dismissed and the appointment of a Tribunal”.

SBA Outlook Newsletter April 26, 2013

The horse meat scandal which went public on January 15, 2013 and which consumed many European countries, probably left many Barbadians wondering who on earth was checking the food supplies or what controls were in place in those countries. We also recall the mad cow disease scares as well as the numerous recalls and advisories on food contaminated with ecoli and salmonella. You should know that only 1-2% of food going into the USA is physically inspected.President Barack Obama signed into law on January 4, 2011 the Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA). This Act which is also called the Food Safety Act is intended to develop a system of food handling that is based on science and addresses hazards from farm to table. FundingShortly after signing, he allocated US $295.8 million, in fiscal year 2014, to the FDA. Most of this funding is intended to implement new food safety regulation required by the FSMA. The fact that this bill was almost unanimously passed in the Senate speaks to the singleness of voice with which the American government views the health and safety of food products imported for its people.

The FSMA has therefore shifted the emphasis from reacting to food bourne issues to prevention.DangerousThe FSMA will deal a heavy blow to small American producers and importers; with some opponents calling it the “most dangerous bill in the history of the USA” regarding the federal government having the right to control who grows, trade and transports any food. Barbadian agro industry SMEs also have to take notice of this Act and its far reaching tentacles. We recall that in the 1990s President Clinton introduced Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP). So how does this new Act auger for local manufacturers?

Visits From Uncle Sam “For the first time, FDA will have the authority to order a recall of food products. The FDA has had to rely on

food manufacturers and distributors to recall food voluntarily.The Act calls for more frequent inspections and for those inspections to be based on risk. Foods and facilities that pose a greater risk to food safety will get the most attention.The FSMA gives the US agency the ability to oversee food produced in foreign countries and imported into the United States and also the authority to prevent food from entering that country if the facility has refused U.S. inspection. Foreign

facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food are also required to register unless food from that facility undergoes further processing (including packaging) by another foreign facility before it is exported to the U.S. However, if the subsequent foreign facility performs only a minimal activity, such as putting on a label, both facilities are required to register.FSMA mandates that food producers must have a written plan that spells out the possible problems that could affect the safety of their products. The plan would outline steps that the

facility would take to help prevent those problems from occurring. The law establishes science-based standards for the safe production and harvesting of fruits and vegetables. These standards will consider both natural and man-made risks to the safety of fresh produce. Foreign Supplier Verification ProgrammeThe FSMA will require that each importer has a foreign supplier verification programme that is adequate to provide assurances that each foreign supplier produces food in compliance with processes and procedures. Methods of foreign supplier verification may include monitoring records for shipments, lot-by-lot certifications of compliance, annual on-site inspections, checking the hazard analysis and risk-based preventive control plans of foreign suppliers, and periodically testing and sampling shipments.Members Feeling EffectsSBA member Glendine Greaves of C&G Star Trading, which has been in business for over 21 years, in an interview, noted that while her

brand was doing well locally she has had to halt exports to the USA until they are able to effectively comply with the FSMA. She also spoke of the need for a central facility for manufacturers and for more collaboration to achieve export objectives among other things. She

further noted that local facilities not only needed to become HACCP certified but now had to deal with the new FSMA and suggested that government needed to assist manufacturers in meeting compliance under the Act.The SBA wants to hear from you about your export challenges. Let us see how we can position ourselves to be of assistance to you. Please submit your contribution and comments to info@sba.org.bb .Download the FSMA HereFollow this link to the FSMA Self-Assessment Tool

OF HORSEMEAT, HACCP AND HURDLES

SBA Outlook Newsletter April 26, 2013

MISSING OUT ON OPPORTUNITIES

Recently some members of the SBA sat with STARCOM, one of our partners, to discuss the challenges that they as business persons were facing in this recessionary economy. Suffice it to say the mood around the table was sombre but optimistic.

What was common among the participants was the struggle to start the businesses; the efforts expended to keep staff; the focus on providing quality; the challenges of the recession, goods and services and optimistically looking ahead. What was especially telling was that some of these businesses even though operating, their owners were unable to receive a salary from the business. They were simply trying to stay afloat until things picked up. Also of note was the pains with which members spoke of their efforts and pains to keep staff on but in the end having to realise that while they were making

this effort in light of government’s plea not to lay staff off, staff on the other hand needed to leave to find more sustainable incomes to feed their families.Some members spoke of assurances from government that did not materialise and which put further burdens on their businesses.The exercise of rationalising and cutting expenses continues to be a sobering exercise for many SBA members.Members also spoke of the difficulty in accessing loans from financial institutions and having to rely on input from friends, family and of course their personal savings. Most, it seemed opted to build their businesses out of their own pockets rather than subject themselves to unrealistic and uncaring demands from financial institutions.However what came out

The Small Business Association (SBA) is the island’s non-governmental, non-profit representative body for micro, small and medium enterprises. The SBA seeks to expand business opportunities for its members, provide educational and developmental services and lobby to ensure an enabling environment

for the growth and sustainability of the SME sector. For more information on the work of the Small Business Association, please visit our website: http://www.sba.org.bb

SBA MEMBERS OPTIMISTIC BUT STRUGGLING TO SURVIVE

We have highlighted in this edition two major issues that are poised to affect SMEs; the USA Food Safety Modernisation Act (FSMA) and the Barbados Employment Rights Act (ERA). Not by any means the only issues affecting SMEs, but two that will require more changes at the operational level for our members and the wider SME sector. While larger firms will be able to quickly adapt their operational strategies to accommodate the exigencies of the changing business landscape, these new requirements mean that SMEs have to restructure

various parts of their operations. The SHAW Act and the FSMA will require members to look at their operational processes with possible costly infrastuctural modifications to effect compliance. Likewise the ERA will require that closer attention is paid to the stipulated tenets of the legislation.

For the record, I have no quarrel with these pieces of legislation because they bode well for the development of SMEs and will position them to

LAST WORD FROM THE CEO

be more competitive and to operate with higher standards. And yes, they all give ample time for businesses to make the necessary changes in order to comply. What I have an issue with is that government still has

not put in place the requisite resources that SMEs can draw down on to assist in the implementation of these legislative requirements. There are, arguably, agencies set up by government to assist small business owners in developing an export market, but I have to question whether these agencies are operating effectively or in the best interest of small businesses. I read with interest the Hon. Minister Donville Inniss’ warning to other

CARICOM countries about the unnecessary roadblocks being put in place for Barbadian products. While I agree with the minister, the problems we experience getting our goods into our neighbouring markets should be a wake up call for us as we look to larger markets like Europe and the USA. The hot sauce industry in the USA is expected to be worth $1.3B by 2017 and is listed in their top 10 fastest growing industries with Solar Panel Manufacturing being another. Sadly our SMEs may miss opportunities to penetrate these markets because of a lack of funding and expertise to meet the export requirements.

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more than anything else

apart from the personal sacrifices being made and the pain being experience was the need to regroup, get back to the basics and restrategise. And the hope and optimism that things would get better so that they would be able to continue to build on their dreams.

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