"Difficulties on top of difficulties" in food safety management

Food safety management is currently facing many difficulties and major challenges, directly affecting public health and sustainable economic development.

Overlapping between management levels

Although there have been efforts in developing and promulgating legal documents on food safety, reality shows that the legal system is still lacking in uniformity, has not been updated promptly, and has many loopholes in management.

Due to limitations in scale and technology, many production facilities are still small and cannot meet food safety and quality requirements.

One of the biggest difficulties in food safety management today is the lack of uniformity in the system of legal documents.

Legal documents have not been updated in a timely manner with the development of the industry, leading to loopholes in management. Laws and decrees related to food safety sometimes have contradictions or overlaps between sectors, such as between the Food Safety Law and other Laws, increasing the complexity in implementing and enforcing regulations.

Another problem causing difficulty in food safety management is the overlap in the division of labor and decentralization among state agencies.

Currently, many ministries and People's Committees at all levels participate in the management of food production and trading establishments, leading to overlap in the inspection, examination and supervision process. This not only increases management costs but also reduces the effectiveness of food safety control activities.

Food safety inspection and supervision still face many difficulties due to the lack of modern and adequate technical tools. Specifically, the national system of standards and regulations on food product classification and testing criteria is still lacking.

This makes it difficult for production facilities and management agencies to determine testing criteria and monitor product quality.

Current standards mainly only limit indicators such as heavy metals, mycotoxins, microorganisms, but do not cover all other food safety risks. The product quality control system lacks indicators for many new types of food, leading to difficulties in choosing indicators for self-declared product quality by business establishments.

Although policies to support production development and ensure food safety have been issued, in reality, the procedures to enjoy support policies are still complicated and not really effective.

Some agencies have not yet coordinated in implementing these programs, making it difficult for businesses, especially small businesses, to access these policies easily. This causes difficulties in promoting safe food production.

Food safety management currently lacks synchronization and unity among management agencies. Planning, certification, inspection, testing and supervision lack close coordination, making the implementation of food safety management activities labor-intensive and time-consuming.

Dedicated staff is still limited

Regarding personnel implementing food safety management, according to Mr. Nguyen Hung Long, Deputy Director of the Department of Food Safety, Ministry of Health, there is a shortage of specialized food safety officers, especially at the commune and ward levels, making management work at the grassroots level very difficult.

In addition, the number of part-time staff is still large, and their expertise in food safety is limited, directly affecting the effectiveness of management work.

Although there have been efforts to form safe food production areas and food production and consumption chains, the development speed of these production areas is still slow.

Due to limitations in scale and technology, many production facilities are still small and cannot meet food safety and quality requirements.

Building a safe food supply chain between farmers, processing facilities and consumer businesses still has many problems, especially the lack of sustainability in the links between the parties.

The system for monitoring and handling food safety violations at food production, processing and trading establishments still has many limitations. Some establishments producing fake food, poor quality food, and food of unknown origin still exist in the market.

Inspection and handling of violations at district and commune levels is also weak, mainly warnings without strict penalties, causing a lack of deterrence for violators.

Controlling food of unknown origin and unsafety is still difficult. Food products imported through unofficial channels and products from small-scale production facilities without certification or quality control pose many obstacles to management.

In addition, food poisoning in collective kitchens, ready-to-eat food establishments in industrial parks and street food businesses remains a major threat to public health.

Food safety management is currently facing many challenges from the incomplete legal system, overlapping responsibilities between sectors, to shortcomings in the control and handling of violations. These difficulties not only affect the effectiveness of state management but also directly threaten the health of consumers.

To solve this problem, we need to have a synchronous and regularly updated legal system, along with strengthening technical tools to support inspection and supervision.

At the same time, the organization and coordination between functional agencies must be improved, especially at the grassroots level. The development of safe food supply chains, the application of technology in production and quality control must be promoted, to ensure not only the quality but also the clear origin of food.

A comprehensive, cohesive and systematic strategy will help build an effective food safety management system, protect public health and meet the requirements of sustainable social development.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/kho-chong-kho-trong-quan-ly-an-toan-thuc-pham-d238480.html