Hanoi (VNA) - In recent years, Hanoihas relegated aspects of food safety oversight to local-level administrations. Theimplementation, however, has not always gone according to plan.

Within the local administrations, includingcommunes, wards and towns, the lack of qualified officials and adequate budgetfor inspection activities are hampering food safety management. Though thedecentralisation of food safety management responsibilities from the city-leveladministration to lower levels – communes and townships – is clearly defined inthe laws, localities are not always able to fulfill their responsibilities.

Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, vice chairwoman of Chi Dongtown People’s Committee (Me Linh district, Hanoi), said after two years’ workon implementing its new food safety management system, the town has managed toestablish a committee to oversee food safety in the locality.

However, Hien admitted that food safety inspectionhas not been as professional as it should be.

“Determination of whether a business hascomplied with certain trade requirements is still arbitrary,” she said.

She added that when a product is suspected ofviolating regulations, the inspectorate body struggles with collecting samplesand sending them for lab tests. In turn, this hinders the town’s handling ofviolations.

According to Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha, head of Me Linhdistrict’s economic department, there are 730 agro-forestry-fisheries producersin the locality under the direct management of the commune-level government.The majority of these producers, however, are small-scale ones without fixedlocations, making it difficult for the authorities to keep track of theiroperations, as well as complete investigation and check-ups.

Le Linh Duy, General Director of Dong Bac A CoLtd, said this has led to a situation where the “authorities mostly set sightson properly licenced and law-abiding businesses,” which are easier to keeptrack of. Meanwhile, inspection of unregistered small-scaled businesses thatare the main sources of questionable food falls by the wayside.

In addition, some communes fail to take stock offood traders and producers properly, leading to a failure to deliver fullreports to the higher-level government. Ha said the commune officials are oftenunable to correctly assess food safety conditions according to their assignedlevel of management.

Commune-level food safety authorities areseverely lacking in number and in capacity. They also rarely get access to foodsafety inspection instruments and equipment. Another problem is the lack ofbudget for local-level governments to investigate food safety compliance,making it difficult for them to carry out the most basic activities likecollecting food samples for lab tests.

Director of the Hanoi Department ofAgricultural, Forestry, and Fisheries Quality Control, Tran Manh Quang, saidfood safety has always been a major issue. He also reaffirmed the need forlocal authorities to shoulder the lion’s share of oversight in this matter.

Quang said he understood local governments’difficulties with performing these new duties, and has called on the city tocraft policies to encourage businesses to invest in transparent productionmethods, and to continue building centralised slaughterhouses in districts andcommunes.

Regarding businesses that fail to meet criteriafor receiving food safety approval licences, local government ought to helpthem address their shortcomings, he said. On the other hand, those guilty ofrepeated violations need to be punished strictly.-VNA