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PM asks for tougher sanctions on food safety violations

PM asks for clear prohibitions, tougher sanctions on food safety violations

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked ministries to review legal documents on food safety and clarify prohibitions and impose tougher sanctions for violations.
PM asks for clear prohibitions, tougher sanctions on food safety violations ảnh 1Inter-disciplinary inspectors take food samples for test at a restaurant. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) –Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked ministries to review legal documentson food safety and clarify prohibitions and impose tougher sanctions forviolations.

The PM assigned tasksto several ministries for the implementation of the National Assembly’sresolution on intensifying the enforcement of food safety regulations.

He requested theMinistry of Health to take a leading role while working with the Ministries ofAgriculture and Rural Development and Industry and Trade to review legaldocuments on food safety and propose amendments to the regulations to make prohibitionsclear and impose stricter sanctions for violations.

The move also aims to avoidoverlaps in state management of food safety matters among several ministriesand strengthen food safety-related law enforcement as Vietnam plans to issuemain technical food safety standards in line with international standards bythe end of 2020.

Additionally, the threeministries must propose a model for state management of food safety, develop asystem to provide information and receive reports from people on food safetyissues and take measures to cut the number of mass food poisoning cases and therate of unsafe food samples.

The Ministry of HomeAffairs was asked to clarify tasks for each agency of the administrativeapparatus for food safety management to improve their effectiveness.

The Ministry ofFinance will allocate funding for food safety management and provideinstructions for ministries, agencies and localities in use of fine revenuesfrom breaches of food safety regulations to reward individuals andorganisations who play a significant role in ensuring food safety.

The Ministry of PublicSecurity was asked to strictly handle serious food safety violations.

In 2017, inter-disciplinary inspectors visited morethan 625,000 food places nationwide, finding violations at nearly 124,000. Ofthe violators, more than 35,700 had to pay fines exceeding a total of 61billion VND (2.7 million USD), according to the National Steering Committee onFood Safety.

The country recorded 139 cases of food poisoning in2017 with 3,869 people affected, down 27 cases, and 24 people died.-VNA
VNA
#Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc #ministries #legal documents #food safety #clarify prohibitions #tougher sanctions #violations #enforcement of food safety regulations #tasks #Vietnam #Vietnamplus #Vietnam news #Vietnam news agency
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