Ho Chi Minh City reports to the Central Government on the Department of Food Safety

(NLDO) - The proposal to establish a Department of Food Safety is an effort to remove obstacles and find solutions for Ho Chi Minh City to ensure food safety for the people.

On December 9, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee reported to the Government and the Prime Minister on the implementation of the conclusion of Deputy Prime Minister Le Thanh Long at the meeting of the Central Inter-sectoral Steering Committee on food safety.

Inevitable in the present stage

Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee believes that after more than 6 years of piloting the Food Safety Management Board model, the establishment of the Food Safety Department is inevitable in the current period.

The Department of Food Safety will fundamentally overcome the limitations of the previous management model.

While the pilot model of the Food Safety Management Board still faces some limitations in terms of law, authority, and personnel organization, the Department of Food Safety is the specialized agency, the focal point for unifying, synthesizing, advising, and taking responsibility before the City People's Committee for food safety management.

Authorities check food safety at a market in Ho Chi Minh City; Photo: NGOC ANH

A department-level agency focusing on food safety assurance also demonstrates the importance, enhances the role and position of this work for the city's people, coordinates with localities, units, provinces and cities and international cooperation in the field.

The establishment of the Food Safety Department also helps to centralize inspection and examination points, creating convenience for people when there is only one city-level food safety management agency. This avoids overlap and avoids the situation where each year a facility or enterprise has to undergo too many inspections and examinations by the food safety management agency.

At the same time, create conditions and officially empower the Inter-District Food Safety Management Team and Wholesale Markets, thereby positively impacting the effectiveness of food safety management in the area through the establishment of multi-functional Food Safety Management Teams.

Efforts to overcome difficulties

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee said that Resolution 18 stipulates that in special cases where it is necessary to increase the number of focal points from the department, bureau or equivalent level upwards, the opinion of the Politburo must be obtained. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee recognized that the proposal to establish a Department of Food Safety requires the opinion of the Politburo.

At the same time, when implementing the Food Safety Department model, many regulations of the Food Safety Law, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, and the Veterinary Law will be encountered because there are no regulations for agencies in the food safety sector.

Therefore, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee believes that this model needs to be included in the National Assembly's resolution to have a basis for implementation, as well as to supplement laws under the authority of the National Assembly.

In addition, if approved, this regulation will save time and costs because it does not require sending for comments from ministries, branches, appraisal opinions from the Ministry of Home Affairs and submitting to the Government for issuance of the Resolution on establishment.

Based on the assessment of the operation process of the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Management Board model, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has proposed to include in the draft Resolution of the National Assembly a mechanism allowing the city to establish a Department of Food Safety to create conditions for the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to ensure the basis for building the functions, tasks and powers of the city's Department of Food Safety that are not specified in the Law on Food Safety, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, and the Law on Veterinary Medicine.

At the same time, create favorable and specific conditions to implement the functions, tasks and powers of the City Food Safety Department under the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee when not yet stipulated in the Law on Food Safety, the Law on Handling of Administrative Violations, and the Law on Veterinary Medicine.

On June 24, 2023, the National Assembly issued Resolution 98 on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City, effective from August 1, 2023. On that basis, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee carried out 3 parallel procedures to establish the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety.

On December 8, 2023, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council issued Resolution 24 on the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety, effective from January 1, 2024.

It can be said that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee proposed the establishment of the Department of Food Safety as an effort to remove obstacles and find solutions for the city in response to the urgent need to ensure food safety for local people.

The effective operation of the new model - Department of Food Safety is for the benefit of the people, so that the community can feel secure and safe in using food.

The results achieved from the establishment of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety will become the basis for the Central Government to consider and deploy an organizational model suitable to the characteristics and actual situation of each locality and province across the country.

Previously, at the meeting of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee on the afternoon of December 4, Head of the Organizing Committee of the City Party Committee Van Thi Bach Tuyet informed about the initial orientation of restructuring the local apparatus. Accordingly, the city plans to study the end of the task of the Department of Food Safety, transferring the task to the Department of Health, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and Department of Industry and Trade.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/tp-hcm-bao-cao-trung-uong-ve-so-an-toan-thuc-pham-196241209204059455.htm