Voters propose increasing penalties for violations related to functional foods

On the morning of November 12, at the 8th Session, the 15th National Assembly continued the question and answer session with Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan and Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung. The question and answer session was closely followed by voters and people of Da Nang city and Ninh Thuan province.

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan answers questions. Photo: Doan Tan/VNA

Lively, frank

Many voters and people in Da Nang and Ninh Thuan expressed their approval and appreciation for the frank questioning of National Assembly deputies, which addressed "hot" issues of public concern, as well as the clear and complete answers of Ministers and members of the Government.

Voters in Ninh Thuan province commented that the atmosphere of the question and answer session was lively, democratic, and constructive, with a lot of information reflecting the real situation, and many proposals, recommendations, and suggestions in directing, managing, and operating. The way National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man conducted the question and answer session was very flexible, and many issues raised in the parliament were answered clearly and specifically.

Through monitoring, voter Le Vu Chuong, Director of the Department of Health of Ninh Thuan province, assessed that many issues raised by delegates to Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan were highly critical. These issues are not only profound but also urgent because they are closely related to the health of the people and voters nationwide.

Regarding the group of issues in the health sector, including the management of functional foods, voter Le Vu Chuong said that currently, Ninh Thuan has no facilities producing functional foods or cosmetics. The province currently has 314 functional food businesses, of which 7 pharmaceutical facilities are under the management authority of the provincial level and 305 pharmaceutical facilities are under the management authority of the district and city levels.

Through inspection and examination, most establishments have complied with the provisions of law in the business of functional foods and pharmaceuticals. However, there are still some shortcomings such as: Functional food products are still mixed with drugs; there is no separate area for non-drug products. To overcome this situation, the Department of Health Inspectorate, the Department of Food Safety and Hygiene, the People's Committees of districts and cities and related units coordinate to inspect and examine the compliance with regulations on pharmaceutical practice and food safety at establishments that trade in functional foods according to the management hierarchy and strictly handle violations.

Ninh Thuan Department of Health recommends that people do not trust too much in functional foods. When sick, they should go to a medical facility for treatment according to the doctor's regimen.

Pharmacist Nguyen Thi Hau, owner of Minh Chau Pharmacy in Cam Le District (Da Nang), shared that currently, functional foods are produced in large quantities and are easily bought and sold on the internet. Many companies organize direct sales conferences with gifts for people in villages and hamlets, mainly targeting the elderly who do not have a clear understanding of the information, selling at very high prices, with poor quality, affecting consumers. Ms. Hau agrees with Minister Dao Hong Lan on the need to continue to improve the legal system on the management of functional foods and cosmetics in the direction of more stringent regulations on business conditions, while increasing penalties for violations. Along with that, relevant parties should step up market management activities, inspection, and prevention of illegal circulation of goods to ensure the rights of the people; promote the role of the Fatherland Front, the Association for Protection of Special Consumer Rights in the locality, etc.

Handling of advertising violations

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung answers questions. Photo: Doan Tan/VNA

Regarding the third group of issues in the field of Information and Communications, voter Nguyen Tri Long, Deputy Director of the Department of Information and Communications of Ninh Thuan province, expressed his impression with the frank and responsible answers of Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung.

Voters believe that the appropriate solution to improve the quality of press activities in the current period of social media explosion requires a combination of improving the quality of information, innovating business models and State support. Specifically, it is necessary to remove difficulties and obstacles in financial mechanisms for press agencies; support facilities and equipment for information and propaganda tasks; pay attention to and supplement human resources; regularly train, foster and improve political qualifications, expertise, professionalism and management capacity. Above all, the press needs to maintain its role as a shock soldier on the cultural and ideological front, ensuring accurate, timely and oriented information, contributing to the sustainable development of the country.

Mr. Nguyen Tri Long also stated that the control of advertising content is always considered important by local press agencies, strictly ensuring from the reception and posting stages on publications. However, currently, advertising activities have shifted from traditional to online environment and cross-border advertising services. This leads to difficulties in State management, because the binding of responsibilities, detection and handling of violations in advertising activities on this medium applies to a type of subject without territorial limits. The 2012 Advertising Law does not have specific regulations on the rights and responsibilities of participating subjects, the process of detecting and handling violations, and the regulations are scattered in a number of sub-law documents, so the management efficiency is not high.

Advertising activities and advertising content are related to many specialized fields such as health, culture, education, industry and trade, agriculture and rural development... Therefore, the Information and Communications sector needs to coordinate with specialized agencies to review, detect, prevent and promptly handle violations of advertising in newspapers, publications and electronic information to protect the rights of people, organizations and voters, Nguyen Tri Long suggested.

Da Nang voters are concerned about the issue of false advertising information and bad news spreading on the internet. Mr. Tran Xuan Khanh in Hai Chau district said that when delegates asked specific questions, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung answered directly to the point and had solutions. That is, the Ministry of Information and Communications established and put into operation the National Information Center, recently some localities have begun to form centers to combat fake news and false news; focus on checking and monitoring large social networking platforms with many violations... At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen inspection, examination, and strict handling of drug brands and advertisements with illegal content; focus on working with representatives of cross-border platforms to request compliance with Vietnamese law.

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