Directive No. 06/2007/CT-TTg on Implementing Urgent Measures to Ensure Food Safety and Hygiene

DIRECTIVE

concerning the implementation of urgent measures

to ensure food safety and hygiene

________________

Food safety and hygiene have a direct and constant impact on the health of each citizen, affecting economic development, trade, tourism, and social security; in the long term, it also affects the development of the national gene pool.

The work of ensuring food safety and hygiene has been highly concerned by the Party, National Assembly, Government, and the entire society in recent years, with many advancements: the legal framework for managing food safety and hygiene has been supplemented and improved; inter-agency coordination has been strengthened and become increasingly effective; educational and communication activities have been intensified, leading to positive changes in awareness and increased responsibility among leaders at all levels, sectors, social organizations, and consumers, contributing to protecting public health and promoting socio-economic development.

However, alongside these achievements, there are still many concerns regarding food safety and hygiene: chemical contaminants harmful to health have not been thoroughly controlled and prevented in some areas where fruits and vegetables are grown; meat from livestock and poultry, and seafood from some production facilities still contain antibiotic residues and hormones; improper use of chemicals and additives in food processing and preservation; food and catering services at markets, streets, tourist areas, festivals, schools, and hospitals are inadequately managed, causing food poisoning incidents in collective kitchens and industrial zones, which affect public health and economic, tourism, and urban civilization development. Counterfeit and substandard food products, as well as illegal cross-border food imports, remain inadequately controlled; violations of the law have not been promptly and strictly dealt with.

The causes of the above situation are due to insufficient awareness and sense of responsibility of agencies, authorities, producers, traders, and consumers; most agricultural cultivation, animal husbandry, and food processing facilities are still at a low level; the organizational and management system for food safety and hygiene in Vietnam is incomplete, with limited management capacity, especially local authorities have not paid sufficient attention to directing the implementation of food safety and hygiene management at the grassroots level.

To address the above situation and establish order and discipline in the control of food safety and hygiene,From farm to table", the Prime Minister requests Ministries, sectors, localities, and units:

1. Strengthen education and communication measures on food safety and hygiene, raising awareness and practices among authorities at all levels, producers, traders, and consumers. Special attention should be given to educating and promoting the public to change outdated customs and traditions, disseminating scientific knowledge in agriculture, animal husbandry, food storage, and safe food processing.

2. Promptly improve and enhance the capacity of the management system, inspection system, and testing system for food safety and hygiene from central to local levels.

3. Strictly implement legal regulations in production, trading, and food processing, particularly those related to food safety and hygiene in vegetable and fruit production, livestock breeding, and slaughtering, aquaculture; closely monitor imported vegetables, meat, and aquatic products at border crossings, raw material production areas, food markets, and ingredient processing markets; closely and regularly monitor food processing and consumption in industrial zones, export processing zones, schools, markets, supermarkets, tourist areas, restaurants, hotels, collective kitchens, and street food services.

4. Strengthen inspection and supervision measures, strictly handle legal violations; immediately address the issue of lax management, clearly define the responsibilities of unit heads when food poisoning occurs within their units; in cases of serious consequences due to lax management and non-compliance with laws, they must be relieved of their positions or held criminally responsible according to the law.

5. Increase investment in budget, human resources, and equipment to meet basic requirements for food safety and hygiene control from central to grassroots levels.

To effectively carry out the above tasks, the Prime Minister requests:

1. People's Committees of provinces and centrally-administered cities

a) Direct and supervise the construction of agricultural product production and processing regions, particularly safe vegetable and fruit production, tea production, and livestock and poultry breeding, and aquaculture; build slaughterhouses that comply with hygiene standards and protect the environment.

Direct, implement, and strictly inspect compliance with legal regulations on food safety and hygiene, particularly the hygiene conditions of collective kitchen facilities, restaurants, hotels, tourist areas, festivals, street food, markets, ports, schools, industrial zones, and export processing zones; clearly define the responsibilities of units operating food service establishments, firmly prevent establishments from producing and trading food without meeting legal requirements; strictly handle violations.

Implement preventive and remedial measures for food poisoning and foodborne diseases as stipulated by law.

b) Proactively direct and coordinate with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop programs, disseminate knowledge and practices on food safety and hygiene to various target groups; integrate food safety and hygiene requirements into criteria for recognizing cultural villages and cultural families.

c) Improve and enhance the effectiveness of the Inter-sectoral Steering Committee for Food Safety and Hygiene from provincial to communal levels. Each year, plans of activities need to be developed, organized, assigned, supervised, inspected, and evaluated the implementation of plans by all levels, sectors, and relevant agencies and organizations.

d) Direct the allocation of personnel to manage food safety and hygiene at the commune, ward, town level; organize and allocate sufficient personnel for inspection and testing of food safety and hygiene at the district, county, provincial city level.

đ) Strengthen budget investment and equipment for food safety and hygiene activities at local levels.

2. The Ministry of Health

a) Take the lead in coordinating with relevant Ministries to effectively perform the functions and tasks of the Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee on Food Safety and Hygiene, direct inspections and urge Ministries, sectors, and localities to implement food safety assurance work efficiently.

b) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and relevant Ministries to develop plans and direct the implementation of information dissemination and education campaigns on food safety and hygiene suitable for different target groups; strictly manage the content of information and advertisements related to food safety and hygiene.

c) Direct the issuance of certificates of compliance with food safety and hygiene conditions according to the law for all high-risk domestic food production and business establishments and imported foods; supervise, inspect, and correct the issuance of certificates by localities, resolutely not allowing establishments without food safety and hygiene conditions to produce and sell food.

d) Coordinate with relevant Ministries and People's Committees at all levels to regularly inspect and audit the implementation of laws on food safety and hygiene; control microbial contamination and chemical residues in food circulating in the market.

đ) Take the lead and coordinate with relevant Ministries to effectively organize risk analysis, forecasting, prevention, and treatment of food poisoning and foodborne diseases from central to grassroots levels; guide the application of food safety management systems such as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good Hygiene Practices (GHP), and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system.

e) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology and relevant Ministries to complete the project on organizing and enhancing the capacity of key laboratories for food safety and hygiene nationwide, to be submitted to the Prime Minister in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Coordinate with the Ministry of Home Affairs and relevant Ministries to develop a project on organizing the management, inspection, and testing system for food safety and hygiene from central to grassroots levels.

g) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice and relevant Ministries to review regulatory legal documents and technical standards on food safety and hygiene, propose amendments, supplements, or new documents to meet national development requirements and international integration; draft the Food Safety Law project to be submitted to the Government in the fourth quarter of 2008.

3. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Fisheries

a) Urgently direct the construction and development of safe agricultural product raw material areas; implement the application of GMP, GHP, and HACCP for food production and processing enterprises under their management; organize training and propaganda on food safety assurance procedures and regulations for farmers producing agricultural and aquatic products; provide information and guidance to producers about international market standards.

b) Regularly monitor and inspect harmful chemical residues in agricultural and aquatic products before harvesting, initial processing, and storage in agricultural product production areas; strictly control slaughtering and veterinary hygiene, aquatic hygiene; handle violations severely.

Agricultural and aquatic products must be certified as meeting food safety and hygiene conditions before export or release to the domestic market.

c) Strengthen inspection and supervision of agricultural inputs production and business operations; strictly control the quality, type, dosage, and isolation period of agricultural inputs used in crop cultivation, animal husbandry, storage, and processing. Handle violations promptly and severely.

d) Issue or submit to competent authorities for issuance technical standards on food safety and hygiene in agricultural and aquatic product production, preservation, and processing within their authority.

4. The Ministry of Industry

a) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Health to develop and implement measures to ensure food safety and hygiene for production and processing facilities and collective dining rooms in factories and enterprises, prevent food poisoning in industrial zones. Strictly control waste sources from factories and enterprises under the Ministry of Industry's management to prevent impacts on raw material areas for food processing; develop and implement a roadmap for applying GMP, GHP, and HACCP for food production and processing enterprises under their management.

b) Coordinate with the Ministry of Health to review, develop, approve, and manage conformity certification for technical standards on food safety and hygiene in the assigned field.

c) Strengthen inspection and supervision of food safety and hygiene in production facilities under the Ministry's jurisdiction; handle violations severely.

5. The Ministry of Trade

a) Strengthen inspection and control to prevent the sale of counterfeit, substandard, expired, mislabeled, smuggled, and fraudulent food products that violate food safety and hygiene laws in the Ministry's jurisdiction. Coordinate with relevant agencies to trace the origin, handle violations thoroughly and severely.

b) Coordinate with People's Committees at all levels to direct the implementation and inspection of food safety and hygiene conditions at markets, supermarkets, and catering service establishments.

c) Take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and relevant Ministries to develop a project to prevent smuggling of food across borders; study and propose the establishment of a border food control agency towards unifying the process, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness, to be submitted to the Prime Minister in the third quarter of 2007.

6. The Ministry of Science and Technology

a) To take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to urgently develop and promulgate a complete system of national technical standards (NTS), national technical regulations on food safety hygiene that are suitable for the country's development requirements and international integration.

b) Coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to review regulations related to product quality, standards, and labels according to the principle of ensuring consistency, rigor, and no overlap.

7. The Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Public Security in accordance with their assigned functions and tasks

a) To take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to detect, investigate, handle, and support the handling of violations of laws on food safety hygiene.

Direct related police forces, border guard units to cooperate with customs authorities and local agencies to control and prevent the smuggling of food across borders.

Propose sanctions, mechanisms, and measures to handle violations of laws on food safety hygiene.

b) Coordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to participate in propaganda and education to raise awareness and practice of food safety hygiene, to prevent food poisoning and foodborne diseases among ethnic minorities in areas where troops are stationed, remote and border regions, islands.

8. The Ministry of Culture and Information

a) To take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Health and relevant ministries and agencies to direct the organization of information dissemination, propaganda, and popularization of knowledge about laws on food safety hygiene.

b) Direct the press, radio, television systems at all levels from central to commune level, mobile information teams, especially Vietnam Television, Voice of Vietnam Radio, and commune-level radio systems to allocate appropriate time and broadcasting hours to disseminate knowledge, legal provisions, and activities ensuring food safety hygiene for the people.

9. The Ministry of Home Affairs

To take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Health, the Government Inspectorate, and relevant ministries and agencies to build a project on organizing the management, inspection, and testing system for food safety hygiene, division of responsibilities between ministries and agencies, and decentralization between central and local levels to ensure the effectiveness of food safety hygiene management work and meet international integration requirements, to be submitted to the Government in the fourth quarter of 2007.

10. The Ministry of Finance

a) Coordinate with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and related agencies to build a coordination mechanism and implement measures to strengthen management and control of food imports, livestock and crop production materials, processing, and preservation of food.

b) Ensure financial balance for the activities of the food safety hygiene program.

11. The Ministry of Planning and Investment

a) To build investment plans and mobilize social and international organization resources to construct material and technical infrastructure for food safety hygiene assurance work.

b) Coordinate with the Ministry of Health to establish a regulation on quality management of food safety hygiene for industrial park and export processing zone management boards.

12. The Ministry of Education and Training

a) To direct the assurance of food safety hygiene in the school system. Absolutely no unqualified food service establishments shall provide catering services in schools.

Proactively build food safety hygiene kitchen models in schools linked with teaching well and learning well movements and other educational movements. Develop a roadmap to incorporate food safety content into teaching curricula at all levels.

b) Coordinate with the Ministry of Health to organize propaganda and education on food safety hygiene in schools, while mobilizing teachers and students to actively participate in food safety hygiene work.

The Ministry of Health is the leading agency responsible for supervising, urging, and inspecting the implementation of this Directive.

Ministries, sectors, provincial People's Committees under the Central Government shall direct the implementation in accordance with their assigned functions and tasks; coordinate with political-social organizations and mass organizations to enhance propaganda, popularization of knowledge, and inspection of the implementation of legal provisions on food safety hygiene; report results every six months and annually to the Ministry of Health for consolidation and reporting to the Prime Minister.

This Directive takes effect fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Ministers, Heads of agencies equivalent to ministries, agencies directly under the Government, Chairmen of provincial People's Committees under the Central Government are responsible for implementing this Directive./.