Recently, the management of food safety has concerned provincial leaders, all branches, and localities. Binh Duong Newspaper reporter had an interview with Le Thanh Tam, Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Customers buy vegetable products at Binh Duong Co.opmart.
- How do you evaluate food safety management activities of the province in recent time?
- The work of ensuring food safety always concerns all levels and sectors in the province and has achieved good results.
First of all, for propagation and communication, departments and agencies diversified forms, such as cooperating with mass media to propagte contents of food safety in production and use by distributing leaflets, organizing conferences... Thereby, branches and levels promptly communicated new regulations on food safety to people and businesses; timely detected and handled violations ...
In addition, relevant departments held agreement signing, in which production units committed to implementing rules and production processes to ensure food safety, thereby producing safe products for local consumption. Besides, the province organized fairs of safe agricultural products. At these fairs, many units signed contracts for safe production, including many large supermarkets, thereby creating a stable consumption source for products in the production chain.
For inspection and examination, the agricultural sector strengthened inspection and strictly handled violations; examined and evaluated organizations and enterprises manufacturing food products on the basis of classifying into A, B and C. Namely, class-A establishments must perform re-inspection after 18 months, class B is 12 months, and class C within 3 months, to re-test and confirm that the organizations achieve safe production standards . At the same time, we also has a plan for sudden inspection to promptly handle violating organizations.
- Binh Duong is an industrial province, the management of food safety will encounter which advantages and difficulties, sir? In 2019, what plan does the agricultural sector set out to limit difficulties in this work?
- The management of food safety is to create safe products that meet people demands in the province. Therefore, Provincial People's Committee pay much attention to this issue.
Binh Duong is an industrial and densely populated province. This is a potential market for manufacturers, a place where products are consumed, but also a place for bad people to take advantage of unsafe food products. This year, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development employ more drastic measures for food safety. Accordingly, the department will heighten the role of public service executors; strengthen collaboration among units in market management; At the same time, promoting propagation for people to understand food safety issues that directly impact on people's benefits, so that producers understand how to apply advanced and modern production processes and ensure food safety.
Besides, the department also counsel Provincial People's Committee to promulgate new policies, and amend, supplement reasonably some existing policies to support more the people in production process...
- How is the inspection of slaughtering establishments being done by the agricultural sector?
- To grasp the situation of diseases in livestock and poultry as well as control slaughtered animals, the first important thing is monitoring animal transport. Recently, provincial People's Committee has actively set up checkpoints for animals in bordering areas to prevent epidemics from other provinces moving to Binh Duong.
In addition, functional sectors intensified inspection and examination during internal transport process in the area, thereby timely discovered sources of animals that do not meet food safety standards. Particularly in slaughterhouses, the agricultural sector is directing local veterinary forces to closely monitor; When detecting cases of failing to ensure food safety, immediately handling.
- How the work of inspection at veterinary and plant protection facilities in the province will be implemented in the coming time?
- We will continue inspecting units in turn according to class A, B, and C. However, if detecting doubtful cases, we will conduct inspection and handle immediately.
Reported by Tieu My – Translated by Ngoc Huynh
