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Workers have lunch at the collective kitchen of Taekwang Vina IND
Co., Ltd. |
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Real situation of the management over food
hygiene and safety in Dong Nai province
According to Phan Minh Bau – Director of Agriculture and Rural Development
Department, there are a few gaps in the management over
food hygiene and safety, especially in controlling livestock and
poultry activities. Head of Economy and Budget Board Quach Ngoc Lan has also
agreed with Mr. Bau’s opinion, she said that the picture of food hygiene and
safety in the province has not been evaluated thoroughly. The figures reported
in the past 4 years (2004-2008) has revealed that the inspection of food hygiene
and safety were carried out rather well, but there were few in the number of
cases handling violations of
the legislation on food hygiene and safety. In Bien Hoa City, most
food trading establishments were inspected, but just 26
ones violating the regulations
on food hygiene and safety were handled. Ms. Ngoc Lan said that these figures
did not reflect the reality because Bien Hoa City has a lots street markets and
illegal slaughter houses that have not been reported.
Dong Nai province now has 21 industrial zones with 860 businesses
being put into operation. This has lead to the development of industrial ration
supply service. However, according to the Department of Industry and Commerce,
the quantity of establishments providing industrial rations presently has not
been reported in Dong Nai province. Therefore, the management over food hygiene
and safety is mainly based on the figures on establishments registering to pay
tax or individuals registering to be granted the certificates of food hygiene
and safety.
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Inspection delegation is examining Trang Dai safe
vegetable production cooperative |
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Which
solution is effective?
At present, the province has set up 5 safe vegetable
production cooperatives with a total area of 50 hectares and an average output
of 300 tons/year; 192 large-scale breeding farms; 315 animal slaughtering
establishments being granted the certificates of food hygiene and safety; and 21
food production and processing establishments satisfying the standards on food
hygiene and safety. However, this has not met the consumption demand of
residents within and outside the province.
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Chicken
production line of Dong Nai Food Industry Company D&F |
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Mr. Phan Minh Bau stated “It’s time for all sectors to roll up the sleeves to
solve the problems together”. He also added that the provincial agriculture
sector is deploying the clean food production to meet the VietGAP standard (a
food sanitation standard) and the construction of animal breeding areas free
from disease. In fact, safe products currently have to face the existence of
illegal products in the market. Hence, it is necessary to raise the awareness of
local residents about using safe products to protect themselves.
Moreover, most inspection members
have agreed that the administrative sanctions still are not strict enough to
warn violators. Therefore, inspecting and handling violations of the legislation
on food hygiene and safety become inadequate. It means that local residents
observe the law provisions on food hygiene and safety only when inspection
delegation carries out the examination. Deputy
Delegate Truong Van Vo suggested “In order to ensure
the management over food hygiene and safety, it is necessary to closely control
the phrases of production, distribution and consumption. The key answer to this
problem lies in the combination among 3 sectors of industry and commerce, public
health, and agriculture. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly specify the roles
and responsibilities of each sector; and coordinating with the concerned
agencies in the implementation of regulations of food hygiene and safety to reap
good results”.
Reported by Nguyen Le, Translated by Minh Minh