The police conducts an unscheduled inspection at a frozen food processing and trading facility in the outskirts of Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has proposed a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and VNĐ3 billion (US$116,000) for food safety offences.

The proposal was included in the recent draft amendment to the Penal Code.

‘Violation of food safety regulations’ (Article 317) was among the crimes with the highest penalty increase, up to six times compared to the current rate.

Accordingly, the list of violations includes using banned chemicals, pesticides or food additives (not on the approved list or not authorised for circulation in Việt Nam) processing or selling food made from livestock that have died from disease or are ordered culling and importing, supplying or selling food with illegal additives or banned substances.

These actions may result in fines between VNĐ300 million to 3 billion ($11,600-116,000), depending on the profit gained and the severity of the violation.

Under current regulations, the fine for this offence ranges between VNĐ50 million to 500 million ($1,930-19,300).

In addition to higher financial penalties, the draft also proposes raising the minimum prison sentence for this crime from one year to three years. The lowest penalty range would be three to seven years in prison, compared to the current one to five years.

Meanwhile, under Article 317(1)(a) of the current Penal Code, individuals using chemicals or additives are only criminally liable if they are aware that the substances are banned.

However, in the draft amendment, the MPS proposes removing the phrase ‘are aware that’, meaning offenders could be subjected to criminal punishment regardless of whether they knew the additives or substances used were harmful.

The additional penalties for ‘producing and trading in counterfeit goods being food, foodstuffs, or food additives’ in Article 193 are also proposed to double from the current VNĐ20-100 million ($770-3,870) to VNĐ40-200 million ($1,540-7,740). If the offender is a commercial legal entity, this amount could rise to VNĐ36 billion ($1.4 million) from the current VNĐ18 billion ($700,000).

Notably, the draft amendment also proposes a prison sentence of between five and ten years for individuals who produce or trade in counterfeit food, foodstuffs, or food additives on ‘e-commerce platforms with 500 or more users.’

The document also suggested adding a new article related the crime of ‘illegally discharging ordinary waste into the environment’ (Article 235a of the draft).

Depending on the volume of waste discharged, violators may face fines ranging from VNĐ100 million to 2 billion ($3,870-77,400), or imprisonment from three months to five years.

For this offence, commercial legal entities may be fined from VNĐ300 million to 6 billion ($11,600-232,200) or have their operations suspended for six months to two years. — VNS