On March 3, Hanoi People's Committee issued Plan No. 69/KH-UBND on implementing post-inspection activities on food safety in Hanoi in 2023.

In 2023, the Steering Committee for Food Safety has planned to conduct two inter-sectoral inspections to ensure food safety during the Lunar New Year and Spring Festival, as well as during the "Action Month for Food Safety".

The inspections will focus on controlling food quality at different stages such as raw material origin, transportation, preservation, production and processing, importation, and circulation in the market.

Additionally, the use of food additives, processing aids, flavors, and colors, as well as the control of banned substances in animal husbandry, cultivation, and aquaculture, residues, antibiotics, pesticide residues, and veterinary drugs will also be inspected.

The inspections will also include the control of small-scale livestock and poultry slaughtering activities, the use of Salbutamol in livestock, counterfeit, unknown origin, expired, or smuggled foods, as well as multi-level business activities and e-commerce for food, with a specific focus on health foods, dietary supplements, and food fortified with micronutrients.

The functional forces will intensify efforts to sample and test food products, particularly those that pose a risk of containing banned substances that may be harmful to people with specific health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, osteoarthritis pain, blood fat, erectile dysfunction, weight gain, and weight loss.

For establishments involved in the production, trade, importation, and advertisement of food products, post-audit regulations will focus on ensuring compliance with regulations related to product announcement for food products, including medical nutrition, food for special diets, and formula nutritional products for young children.

The emphasis will be on post-checking the product self-declaration dossiers at the relevant agencies. Additionally, units will focus on post-auditing product announcements, ensuring conditions for food safety, importing food, complying with labeling regulations outlined in Chapter VII of Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP dated February 2, 2018 of the Government, and post-checking advertising, producing, trading, and using food additives, and ensuring food traceability.

For food service and street food businesses, post-checks will focus on compliance with general regulations on food safety and requirements related to food safety assurance conditions, including the use of food additives, processing aids, and ingredients. There will also be efforts to control and ensure food safety at collective kitchens in industrial zones, schools, ready-made meal establishments, tourist areas, festivals, big events, and street food.

Food safety management agencies will be subject to checks to ensure they are fulfilling their state management responsibilities effectively, with a focus on specific areas. These include the implementation of food safety assurance measures in accordance with their functions and tasks, as well as issuing and withdrawing product announcements and products that require self-declaration/registration of product announcements, certificates of advertisement contents, and certificates of establishments meeting food safety conditions. Additionally, food safety management agencies will be evaluated on their effectiveness in conducting information, education, and communication campaigns related to food safety, as well as their ability to conduct inspections, post-inspections, and handle violations related to food safety.

Ngoc Mai

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