Agencies will set up eight inspection teams to check food safety in 24 cities and provinces from now to the Tet Holiday.
Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien
This information was given by Health Minister, Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, at a recent online discussion after she conducted an inspection of Dong Xuan Market.
The number of inspections nationwide could reach into the thousands, and will include various samples being taken for evaluation. The programme is scheduled to get underway before Tet in order to warn people about the hazards of substandard food processing and preparation facilities.
According to the minister, agencies could apply new, stricter fines which would be higher than the current highest fine of VND100 million (USD4,760). She specified that the fine could be as much as seven times more than the total value of the food found at the violating facility. Other measures could include revoking licenses and making public the names of unsafe products.
The minister said, the inspection of Dong Xuan Market had not yet identified any banned substances in products sold there, but that this alone did not ensure food safety.
The inspection of Dong Xuan Market alone, she said, did not provide an accurate reflection of food safety, and so hundreds if not more inspections are needed.
She added that this first probe of Dong Xuan triggered the more comprehensive inspection programme from the central to local levels. This was just one of three food safety initiatives for the month leading up to Tet, jointly implemented by the Ministries of Health, Public Security, Industry and Trade and Agriculture and Rural Development.
Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat inspecting food safety at Dong Xuan Market on January 5, 2013
Regarding the concern that the Ministry of Health’s Circular 30 on street food control which will take effect on January 20, Minister Tien said the circular did not ban the street food businesses, and that these services have their own advantages and create jobs for many people. However, the circular would tighten control over street food to prevent health risks, she noted.
“The type of situation in which inns and pubs are located next to drains and a bucket of water is used to wash hundreds of bowls and chopsticks must be ended. It is essential to ensure a minimum for food safety requirements,” the minister emphasised.
