Baan Front Office

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WORKSHOP CRISIS SITUATIONS Madalena
Aguiar PORTUGUESE FOOD SAFETY AGENCY MINISTRY
OF AGRICULTURE CZECH REPUBLIC PRAGUE 21 and
22 April 2005
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PORTUGUESE FOOD SAFETY AGENCY
1st phase Agencys Installation Commission
2 years
Governmental changes
Question What should be the model to adopt ?
Was selected a model that does not involve a
risk management area

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• DECREE LAW No. 217-B/2004 of 9 OCTOBER
• Aproves the establishment of the
• PORTUGUESE FOOD SAFETY AGENCY

The AGENCY is responsible for

• A scientific, credible and independent ASSESSMENT
  
• of the risks in the foode chain

- Transparent and accessible COMMUNICATION of
those risks
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PORTUGUESE FOOD SAFETY AGENCY
ORGANISATION CHART
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2 FORMS OF COMMUNICATION

• CRISIS Response

• PLANNED
• Newsletter
• Website
• Scientific Debates
• Information Seminars
• Telephone Contact Centre
• Industrial Partnerships

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CRISIS
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THE STORY OF AN (EVENTUAL) CRISIS
Day Friday Time 5.30 p.m. Fact Telephone
call from a journalist from the LUSA agency
after he read the news in FRANCE PRESS and in
THE GUARDIAN


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THE STORY OF AN (EVENTUAL) CRISIS
lt There were 350 thousand pots of yoghurt
discovered with a thin film of mould ltThe
offending itens, produced by a Greek company,
were removed from the market, but not quickly
enough ltThis products are marketed in Europe
and United States lt It was unclaer if any of the
withdraw yoghurts had been exported Question of
the portuguese media gt Does Portugal has this
yoghurts ?


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THE STORY OF AN (EVENTUAL) CRISIS


Our Imediate answer Well call you right
back WE HAVE ONE HOUR Decision must be taken
about 6,30 pm WHY Media has its time and
space


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MEDIA time

• HOW THE NEWS DEVELOPS
• NEWSPAPERS 4/5 a.m.
• RADIOS 7/8 a.m.
• TV 1 p.m.
• SNOWBALL EFFECT UNTIL 8 p.m.

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NEWS
MEDIA SPACE

WHY FOOD SAFETY IS

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THE STORY OF AN (EVENTUAL) CRISIS

WHAT TO DO Collect information - Contact
management entities - Contact economic
operators Contact the Greek autorities ?
Contact EFSA ? Collect documents Immediately
call a meeting with the Crisis Unit
aim


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in 3 STAGES
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Stage 1 CRISIS UNIT MEETING
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I. The CRISIS meeting room
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i) INTERNAL UNIT

CRISIS COORDINATOR
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ii) EXTERNAL UNIT(contacted by the coordinator)

THE IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTING A CULTURE OF
COOPERATION
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6,30 pm / Time to Resume the Situation

• -Afther contacting the distribution companies we
  found out that in Portugal
• THAT GREEK COMPANYS ONLY SENT CHEESE AND NOT
  YOGHURT
• IT SEEMS THERE IS NO DANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH and
  no crise situation
• BUT
• We found out there was a
• TRADITIONAL GREEK PRODUCTS FAIR in LISBON
• It had, althoug few, some of the product
  containing mould

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II. TIME TO DECISION

• WE HAVE TO COMMUNICATE THE RISK
• WITH WHOM AND HOW ?

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COMMUNICATE WITH WHOM?

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COMMUNICATE HOW ?

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PREVENTIVE PRESS RELEASE(before the crisis)

• ADVANTAGES
• 1- incentive for the issue to become news
• 2 sets a time in the media schedule
• 3- helps to avoid misinterpretations

• DISADVANTAGES
• 1-calls attention to emerging danger
• 2- journalists do not appreciate being the medium
  of institutional policies
• 3- may be interpreted as propaganda

note Never avoid bad news
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REACTIVE PRESS RELEASE (post-crisis)

• ADVANTAGES
• 1- removes any doubts
• 2- more guided reaction
• 3- all the words are significant

• DISADVANTAGES
• 1- almost no effect in written press
• 2- little impact if there is a lot of negative
  criticism ON CAMERA
• 3- does not substitute ON CAMERA in terms of
  communication effectiveness

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ON CAMERA

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WE OPTED FOR THE REACTIVE PRESS RELEASE

• NO DISADVANTAGES
• 1- almost no effect in written press
• 2- little impact if there is a lot of negative
  criticism ON CAMERA (THERE IS NOT)
• 3- calls attention to emerging danger (ALREADY
  OCCURRED)
• 4- journalists do not like to be a medium of
  institutional policies
• (HE WANTED TO KNOW)
• 5- may be interpreted as propaganda (MERELY AN
  EXPLANATION)

• ALL KNOWN ADVANTAGES
• 1- removes any doubts
• 2- more guided reaction
• 3- all the words are significant
• 4- an incentive for the issue to become news
• 5 sets a time in the media schedule
• 6- helps to avoid misinterpretations

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DEFINITION OF THE MESSAGE
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CONTENT

• PRESS RELEASE
• At the end of last February, the Greek
  authorities detected mould-contaminated yoghurts
  in the Greek market.
• These products, of the XXXX brand and produced by
  the company XXXX, were removed from the Greek
  market after 15 March 2005.
• As Portugal is one of the countries that imports
  products from the company XXXX, the Portuguese
  Food Safety Agency recommends that these yoghurts
  should not be consumed.
• Although there is great scientific evidence that
  moulds which contaminate foods do not multiply in
  the human body and in the short term do not
  constitute danger to public health, the
  consumption of contaminated foods with these
  micro-organisms is not desirable, since many
  types of mould produce toxins.
• The European Commission awaits a written
  confirmation from the Greek authorities, through
  the Rapid Alert System, stating that there are no
  risks to public health.  
• For more information, please contact ()

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Were did it go ?

• BEFORE GOING TO THE MEDIA, WE SENT IT TO
• ALL THE ENTITIES ENVOLVED
• WHAT HAPENDED
• It was published and the ltso called crises gt had
  no further development

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LESSON 1

• THE IMPORTANCE OF A
• CULTURE OF COOPERATION
• There isn t any institucional link in the
  structures envolved

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LESSON 2

• THE IMPORTANCE OF BEATING THE

• AIM 1 DAY to comunicate without having all the
  information
• / reacting on the day itself avoids the crisis

BATTLE AGAINST TIME
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Lesson 3
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I. Anticipate
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II. PREPARE
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III. ACT
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Main question
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PORTUGUESE AGENCY FOR FOOD SAFETY WHERE ARE WE?
RUA DA LAPA, Nº 73
1200 071 LISBOA
TELEPHONE [phone]
FAX [phone]
E-MAIL agencia_at_agenciaalimentar. pt
WEBSITE www.agenciaalimentar.pt