Deputy PM requests more food safety inspections

Chairing a teleconference with ministries, sectors and localities on the task in Hanoi on January 2, Dam stressed ensuring food hygiene and safety is extremely important as it is closely associated with processing and distribution as well as consumers’ habits and health issues. 

To support the work, ministries and sectors need to continue building and refining legal frameworks and documents to enforce the Law on Food Safety, Dam said, reminding them to speed up communications campaigns to further raise people’s awareness of observing legal regulations on food hygiene and safety. 

Violations of food safety regulations must be handled stringently in line with law, he emphasized. 

The Interdisciplinary Steering Committee on Food Safety reported that in 2013, the health sector worked closely with other sectors in overseeing the production and trade of food, helping reduce the percentage of violating food production units from 21.1% in 2012 to 20.1% in 2013. 

Many food safety violations have been brought to light and widely reported in the media. Trade in livestock and related products illegally imported into the country was prevented and food poisoning cases were kept under control. 

Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that her ministry will submit to the Government a decree on sanctions against food safety violators, proposing tougher measures, including imposing fines seven times higher than current levels. 

At present, the Health Ministry is formulating a project to build a food hygiene and safety testing centre and a rapid warning system to facilitate localities’ food testing capacity.

The Deputy PM suggested the Health Ministry should raise people’s awareness of preventive measures, and check the living environments and eating habits of people to work with other agencies to carry out campaigns on protecting their health. 

According to the Health Ministry, 2013 saw decreases in the number of infectious disease cases and fatalities. 

It timely reported to the Prime Minister the disease situation and developments, as well as successfully coordinated with the People’s Committees of provinces and cities in implementing preventive measures. 

However, infectious epidemics are unpredictable and occur inside and outside the country. 

The ministry asked the Government to set up a National Steering Committee on preventing diseases, and strictly quarantine people and animals at border gates to stop the penetration of dangerous diseases.