Matís is a public company and runs a public laboratory, for example in pesticide measurements, which serves, among other things, regulatory bodies, ie. Matvælastofnun and Heilbrigðiseftirlit sveitafélaganna, which take samples from food companies for official control.
Matís has a limited contribution from the state as well as being in a competitive market, so Matís is not allowed to subsidize metering services with public funds. The Association of Employers (FA) published a letter on its website on 28 April where the FA protests against tariff increases for inspection visits by the Food Administration and health inspections to food companies. In its response to the FA, Matvælastofnun points out that Matís' tariff has risen and that discounts to public bodies have been abolished. It is more accurate to say that discount terms have been harmonized between all Matís customers and public bodies receive the same terms as companies and individuals in the general market.
The FA takes pesticide measurements as an example of a price increase and points out that the unit price for pesticide analyzes has risen from ISK 81,760 in 2016 to ISK 105,578 earlier this year, or by 29.1% in these four years. Matís' price list has risen annually in line with increases in inputs and wage indices. The last price list increase and harmonization of terms was announced to Matvælastofnun and other public regulators in January 2020, but Matís has always tried to keep price price increases to a minimum to ensure that levies on Icelandic companies are not increased. It should be noted, however, that this increase, taken by the FA as an example, is lower than the increase in the public sector wage index over these four years. Since 2014, Matís has worked diligently to add a number of pesticides that are screened for in order to enable the Food Administration and the Municipal Health Inspectorate to fulfill their obligations and enforce legislation on food safety and consumer protection. The number of pesticides screened for in each sample is today considerably higher than in 2016. Matís screens for 201 pesticides in fruit, vegetables and cereals, of which 192 substances are accredited, compared to 135 pesticides in 2016, of which 96 are accredited.
Regarding changes in discounts to public entities, Matís points out that these are measures that Matís has been working on since 2016, ie. to equalize discount terms for all its customers. Today, all discounts to customers are turnover-related.