Lack of investment and human resources

Tran Huu Huynh, head of the legal department of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) emphasised that “ We must eat although we do not know how safe the food is”. Therefore, to ensure the health of consumers, the government must draw up more detailed regulations than what were have at present.

The board that is compiling the draft law on food hygiene and safety released figures at a recent seminar that has shown better public awareness of the problem over the last four years. The number of exporters taking care of the problem increased from 47.8 percent to 55.7 percent, the business community in general from 38.6 percent to 49.4 percent, and consumers from 38.3 to 48.6 percent.

The number of businesses, that guarantee hygiene and safety in the country rose from 1,106 in 2006 to 17,592 in 2008 while the number of food poisoning cases continued to drop. An inter-agency steering committee on food hygiene and safety chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan has been recently established.

Mr Quynh said that more than 8 million food poisoning cases were reported annually. However, Mr Nguyen Hung Long, deputy head of the food hygiene and safety department under the Ministry of Health said that the real figure might be much higher and continue to grow at an alarming rate.

Associate Professor, Dr Nguyen Dang Vang said that not enough attention had been paid to solving the problem. According to statistics from the compiling board, in the 2004-2008 period, the investment spent on food hygiene and safety was only VND329 billion, or VND780/per head/year on average.

Mr Vang said that each province had only one person in charge of food hygiene and safety. At ministerial level, there were only 12 people (three in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and nine from the Ministry of Health) responsible for the whole country.

Meanwhile, six years after it came into effect, there remain many shortcomings in the law on food hygiene and safety.

Shortcomings in new draft law

Almost every opinion given at the seminar on the draft law on food hygiene and safety held recently by VCCI said that the responsibilities of three ministries need to be clarified: the MARD, MoH and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to avoid inefficiency. According to Dr Nguyen Tu Cuong, director of the Centre for Technology Transfers and Fisheries Services, the draft law revealed many shortcomings compared to the EU and US regulations on food hygiene and safety and the contents are only aimed at domestic businesses.

Mr Cuong added that responsibilities for the management of food hygiene and safety should rest on two ministries MARD and the MoH. Accordingly, MARD will be responsible for the production of food while the MoH will oversee the storing and distributing of domestic products, and the management of retail stores, markets, supermarkets, hotels, and restaurants. In addition, the MARD and MoIT should work together on a strategic plan for public health care.

Sharing this view, Tran Thi Quang Hong from the Institute for Legal Science said that the draft law should regulate the responsibilities of relevant authorities as well as the punishments for offenders that break the law on food hygiene and safety.

Although the draft law is well overdue, it still helps to build up trust among consumers. It is expected that the draft law will be submitted to the National Assembly in early November for consideration before it is approved in early 2011.