In Malta, it is the NSO that has the possibility of designating ONAs to produce, develop and disseminate a specific and identifiable part of European statistics at the national level.

ONAs have the responsibility for the quality assurance of statistics produced by them and are entitled to transmit results directly to Eurostat. However; depending on the arrangements made with the NSO, ONAs may send statistics to the NSO first. The NSO is not systematically accountable for the quality of the statistics produced by the ONAs, but the NSO is required to check the quality of statistics produced by ONAs and suggest improvements where necessary.

As the coordinator of European statistics at the national level, the NSO is the competent authority in assessing whether statistical partners or producers should be included in the list of National Statistical Institutes (NSIs) and ONAs. It is then the responsibility of the Head of the NSO to communicate designated authorities with the EU Commission (Eurostat). The Head of the NSO should also inform the Permanent Representation of the EU of any changes to the list of ONAs.

Presently, there are around 30 providers and/or producers statistical data that have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the NSO, making them statistical partners of the NSO. The designation of some of these partners as ONAs by the NSO may occur if the designation can improve the credibility of the official statistics and quality, and if the NSO considers that such a designation would ultimately strengthen the credibility of official statistics and provided that the adequate institutional and quality management conditions are in place in these organisations.

Currently, the Directorate for Health Information and Research (DHIR) and the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) are the two ONAs in Malta. For the production of official health statistics and statistics on waste, these ONAs are bound by the MSA Act (CAP.422), Regulation (EC) 223/2009, and the European Statistics Code of Practice.