Nghe An needs to continue building a closed, safe production chain.

(Baonghean.vn) - On January 17, the National Assembly's Supervisory Delegation worked with Nghe An province to evaluate the implementation of policies and laws on food safety in the 2011-2016 period.

Comrade Phan Xuan Dung - Member of the Party Central Committee, Member of the National Assembly Standing Committee, Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment as head of the delegation; Vice Chairmen of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment: Nguyen Minh Ha, Phung Duc Tien as deputy heads of the delegation.

Working with the delegation from Nghe An province were comrades: Nguyen Dac Vinh - Member of the Party Central Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation; Nguyen Xuan Duong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Le Quang Huy - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee; Le Minh Thong - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Hoang Viet Duong - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council; and representatives of departments and branches.

Overview of the meeting. Photo: Pham Bang

Reporting to the monitoring delegation, the leader of the Provincial People's Committee said that in the period of 2011-2016, the implementation of policies and laws on food safety in the province has seen remarkable changes. The Provincial People's Committee and relevant sectors have issued complete documents directing and implementing policies and laws on food safety.

Nghe An has focused on implementing the construction and planning of production towards concentrated goods, developing food safety production models in chains. The province has supported the construction of 11 production and business models following VietGAP and HACCP; granted VietGAP certificates to 433 farming households. Sectors conducted 2,410 inspections of food production and business establishments; 2,090 inspections of pesticide business establishments; collected 795 plant and animal samples for analysis.

Regarding food safety management in food production and trading, the Health sector has granted food safety certificates to 1,972/5,012 establishments, accounting for 39.34%; the Agriculture sector has granted 405/1,165 establishments, accounting for 34.76%; the Industry and Trade sector has granted 640 establishments. For establishments not required to be granted food safety certificates, the organization has signed a commitment to ensure food safety for the subjects.

However, in 5 years, there were 51 food poisoning cases in the province with 975 people infected, the rate of food poisoning was <6/100,000 people, 100% of poisoning cases were investigated and handled to prevent the spread of the disease, 11 people died from food poisoning (mainly due to natural toxins).

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh and the National Assembly's Supervisory Delegation inspected the slaughtering process at the slaughterhouse in Hung Chinh commune (Vinh city). Photo: Archive

The inspection and handling of violations of food safety laws in the period of 2011-2016 achieved many positive results. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development inspected 9,231 establishments and discovered 2,049 establishments with violations; sanctioned 394 establishments with 1.228 billion VND; The police force discovered and arrested 812 cases, 853 subjects with violations in the field of food safety, confiscating 205 tons of animal products; 60.7 tons of fish; 81 tons of bamboo shoots, more than 5.6 million livestock and poultry; 12 tons of chemicals, food additives; 15 tons of vegetables and fruits that did not meet food safety regulations.

In addition to the achieved results, Nghe An also frankly acknowledged that the state management of food safety in districts, cities and towns still has many limitations; coordination between functional forces is sometimes not timely, the participation of local authorities is not active; inspection work is not regular. The situation of production, processing, trading and transportation of food that does not ensure food safety is still complicated; the use of pesticides, growth promoters and stimulants still exists and has not been fully controlled.

Assessing the high results in ensuring food safety in the province with much progress, members of the monitoring delegation pointed out issues that need to be clarified such as: sampling of vegetables and fruits is still low; the rate of establishments violating food safety detected through inspection and examination is still high; the amount of food that does not ensure food safety is still very large. The delegation suggested that the province should review the issuance of certificates of eligibility according to VietGAP and food safety standards; strengthen inspection and examination of food safety work; continue to invest in and upgrade markets in the area.

Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh acknowledged and accepted the opinions of the monitoring delegation. Photo: Pham Bang

Previously, through the actual inspection work, the monitoring team assessed that although the slaughterhouses in Vinh City and Dien Chau City had been invested in quite systematically, there were still many shortcomings in the implementation of the slaughtering process, the waste collection was not carried out systematically; wastewater, waste, and equipment were still sketchy. At the dairy farms, the food safety process regarding breeds, feed, medicine, chemicals, and milking process was very strict and tight. Regarding the state management of food safety at the grassroots level, the team assessed that food safety inspection at the commune level was still limited, mainly in terms of sensory; the professional capacity of commune-level officials in the field of food safety was not high; and equipment for inspection work had not been invested in.

Speaking at the meeting, Provincial Party Secretary Nguyen Dac Vinh acknowledged and accepted the opinions of the monitoring delegation. At the same time, he said that the results reported to the monitoring delegation accurately and fully reflected the implementation of food safety policies and laws in the province in recent times.

Comrade Nguyen Dac Vinh also emphasized that controlling dirty goods and food through unofficial channels is still very difficult. Currently, models and projects for producing and trading clean food in the area are being effectively promoted, such as milk, beef, and pork. In the coming time, food control and the construction of a closed, safe food production chain will be increased investment and implementation.

Comrade Nguyen Xuan Duong - Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee emphasized the province's determination in implementing policies and laws on food safety. He said that the National Assembly and the Government need to fully legalize violations of food safety; have strong enough sanctions and deterrence. He requested the Central Government to provide funding to purchase equipment to monitor violations; strengthen supervision and prevent the smuggling of dirty food across the border into domestic consumption.

Comrade Phan Xuan Dung - Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment highly appreciated the results of implementing food safety policies and laws in Nghe An province. Photo: Pham Bang

Concluding the working session, Comrade Phan Xuan Dung - Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment highly appreciated the results that Nghe An has achieved in the past time in implementing food safety policies and laws. In the coming time, he suggested that Nghe An needs to invest in and upgrade the centralized slaughter system to become more professional; strengthen propaganda work to raise awareness of production and business of people and enterprises; strengthen inspection, examination and control of food safety risks. Continue to invest in and build a closed, safe production and business chain system to ensure people's health. Regarding Nghe An's recommendations, the delegation will synthesize and report to the National Assembly for research and consideration.

Pham Bang