Hanoi (VNA)- It’s time local people had access to food products that met the samehigh standards as those the country exported, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Damsaid at a meeting held in Hanoi on June 27 to review the activities in the first six months of the National Inter-SectorSteering Committee on Food Safety.

According to Ministerof Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong, in the first half ofthe year, coordination among the Government, ministries, sectors, localitiesand social organisations had brought about significant and positivedevelopments for food safety.
 
A report by theministry said that all provinces had been developing standardised foodsupply chains. More than 1,200 agriculture supply chains had been set upwith more than 3,100 showrooms.

Conferences andtraining on food safety had been organised for more than35,000 individuals involved in food sales and production. Inspection teamsspecialising in food safety had also been trained by the Ministry ofHealth in nine provinces and cities.

There are currently182 food safety and hygiene testing units nationwide, run by the health andagriculture ministries.

In the first sixmonths of the year, market watchdogs across the country detected and handledmore than 56,000 facility owners who violated food safety regulations outof the 347,000 facilities inspected.

The Ministry ofHealth and authorities in 63 provinces and cities imposed total administrativefines of 24 billion VND (1.05 million USD) on 8,400 facility owners in thefood sales and production sector.

The ministry has alsobeen piloting an online system for food safety information and management inorder to avoid inaccuracies and slack updates on food safety datalike food poisoning and management violations. The ministries ofagriculture and trade are now working on the completion of the system.

Participantsat the meeting also highlighted some of the main focuses such as theuse of plant protection chemicals, antibiotics and veterinary medicines inagriculture and fishery production. Cross-border food smuggling was also amatter for concern.

Cuong said the demandfor high quality and standardised food products had been increasing among thecommunity and consumers now had the tools to trace food origins.

Deputy PM Dam agreed,saying this was a good sign. “We need to strengthen communications on foodsafety violations. It’s time that all Vietnamese people had access to the samesort of high quality food we export,” he said.

In the last six monthsof the year, the Deputy PM asked agencies to strengthen inspections on foodsafety, especially at small and individual food sales and processingunits.

A survey by themarket research firm Indochina Research earlier this year revealed that foodsafety was among the issues that concerned urban Vietnamese people themost.

The survey, whichinterviewed more than 300 people aged 18 to 60 in the country's biggest cities Hanoi and HCM City,  said 86 percent identified food safety as the most pressingsocial concern.-VNA