Threefold rise in fines tipped for food laws

HA NOI — The highest administrative punishment for food safety and hygiene violations is proposed to be increased threefold over the present VND30 million (US$1,420).

The rise is contained in the draft decree regulating violations in food safety, compiled by the Ministry of Health's Viet Nam Food Administration.

The draft decree has been submitted to the Government for approval.

Deputy director of the administration Nguyen Hung Long said the current punishment level was introduced in 2005 and was not high enough to be a deterrent, especially for larger food enterprises.

The draft decree also proposed publicly shaming enterprises which intentionally repeated their violations, he said.

The draft decree is part of a project "Capacity building for the food inspection system in Viet Nam", implemented by the administration from 2009 to 2012.

The project received more than $780,300 from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

During the past three years, the project refined and strengthened the legal framework of food inspection.

The project finalised a number of books and two documentary movies on the inspection process and held five training courses with 205 participants from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Hung Long said he highly appreciated the project's contribution to the national food control system.

It improved the inspectorate force's understanding and training, he said.

In the first six months this year, 58 cases of food poisoning were reported in the country with 1,900 victims, 14 of whom died. — VNS