Will Strengthen Inspection of Groups of Health Supplement Products at Risk of Being Adulterated with Prohibited Substances
How is post-inspection responsibility regulated?
Based on the provisions in Article 38 of Decree 115/2018/ND-CP, the responsibility for post-inspection is stipulated as follows:
- The Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the People's Committees of centrally-affiliated provinces and cities are responsible for organizing post-inspection of food safety through inspection activities within their management scope according to legal regulations; assigning and delegating to the food safety management agencies of the ministry and the People's Committees the responsibility for post-inspection of food safety.
- Post-inspection activities are conducted regularly and continuously for production, business, import, and advertising establishments after they conduct activities such as product announcement, production, import, commercial distribution, and other related activities like food safety testing and state inspection of imported food safety.
- Ensuring the principle of avoiding overlap regarding subjects, locations, and post-inspection times. Handling of overlaps is carried out according to the laws on inspection and state management division of food safety.
Will enhance the inspection of health protection food groups with high risk of mixing prohibited substances? (Image from the Internet)
Is it true that priority is given to inspecting weight loss, physiological, bone and joint, diabetes, and blood pressure support product groups?
According to Section 3 of Official Dispatch 450/ATTP-PCTTR in 2023, the requirements for post-inspection of food safety in 2023 are clearly stated as follows:
- For the health protection food group, focus post-inspection on enterprises located in the registered product announcement area (search for names, addresses of enterprises, and certificates according to provinces and cities at https://nghidinh15.vfa.gov.vn). Check and sample testing, prioritize sampling and testing health protection food products with a high risk of mixing prohibited substances as stipulated in Circular No. 10/2021/TT-BYT (product groups supporting weight loss, physiology, bones and joints, diabetes, blood pressure, etc.). Continue to implement Directive No. 17/CT-TTg dated May 9, 2017, of the Prime Minister the Government of Vietnam, cooperate with the Department of Information and Communications, Police, and Industry and Trade to strengthen the handling of violations in advertising health protection foods, especially violations on the internet, social networks, youtube, etc., publicly disclose violating establishments and products through media channels according to regulations.
According to the above regulations, in the post-inspection of food safety in 2023, for health protection food groups, priority must be given to sampling and testing health protection food products with a high risk of mixing prohibited substances (product groups supporting weight loss, physiology, bones and joints, diabetes, blood pressure, etc.) as stipulated in Circular 10/2021/TT-BYT.
Simultaneously continue to implement Directive 17/CT-TTg in 2017 of the Prime Minister the Government of Vietnam, cooperate with the Department of Information and Communications, Police, and Industry and Trade to strengthen the handling of violations in advertising health protection foods, especially violations on the internet, social networks, youtube, etc., publicly disclose violating establishments and products through media channels according to regulations.
What other contents are outlined in the post-inspection tasks for food safety in 2023?
According to Official Dispatch 450/ATTP-PCTTR in 2023, details of the contents stipulated in the post-inspection for food safety, aside from priority inspection of health protection products at risk of mixing prohibited substances, include:
(1) Advising provincial People's Committees to issue plans and direct the strengthening of post-inspection work on food safety in the locality (for provinces/cities that have not issued post-inspection plans). Focusing on implementing activities to ensure food safety during peak periods. Increasing forces and resources to minimize the number of incidents, cases, and fatalities due to food poisoning.
(2) Implementing focused post-inspection activities, targeting post-inspection on products subjected to self-declaration, product announcement registration, imported products exempt from inspection, or reduced inspection.
For products subjected to self-declaration, requiring focused post-inspection of self-declaration documentation at the receiving agency, strictly handling violations related to self-declaration of products (non-self-declared products, violations of the testing sheets for self-declaration, self-declaring products that must be registered for announcement, violations of food safety criteria, etc.).
Inspecting conditions ensuring food safety for production facilities, processing facilities, health protection food production facilities (GMP), facilities exempt from certification of food safety conditions; sampling for testing, etc.
Strictly handling violating facilities according to the regulations of Decree 115/2018/ND-CP, Decree 124/2021/ND-CP, and other related administrative violation decrees.
(3) Effectively coordinating inter-sector collaboration in controlling counterfeit foods, combating smuggling, commercial fraud, and intellectual property infringement in functional foods (including health protection foods, foods for special policies, supplementary foods, and medical nutritional foods) according to Directive 17/CT-TTg in 2018 of the Prime Minister the Government of Vietnam.
(4) Continuing the strict implementation of Directive 17/CT-TTg in 2018 of the Prime Minister the Government of Vietnam on further enhancing state responsibility for managing food safety in the new situation; advising provincial People's Committees and Inter-sector Steering Committees for food safety to delegate and decentralize responsibilities to Departments, sectors, district and commune People's Committees to strengthen post-inspection work on food safety in the locality.
The Food Safety Department requests the provincial/municipal Health Departments and the Food Safety Management Boards: Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Bac Ninh to coordinate in implementing the above-mentioned contents. The post-inspection results, biannual and annual reports in 2023 of inspection activities shall be reported in the report form issued along with Decision 3081/QD-BYT, sent to the Food Safety Department for consolidation to report to the Ministry of Health and the central Inter-sector Steering Committee on food safety.
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