'The basis for establishing the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department is now complete.'

On the afternoon of May 30th, speaking at a group discussion on the draft Resolution of the National Assembly on special mechanisms and policies for the development of Ho Chi Minh City, Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra stated that this draft resolution will decentralize and delegate authority to Ho Chi Minh City in several areas, including the establishment of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Food Safety.

Bộ trưởng Nội vụ: 'Cơ sở lập Sở An toàn thực phẩm TP.HCM đã đầy đủ' - Ảnh 1. — Minister of Home Affairs Pham Thi Thanh Tra

According to Ms. Tra, from a political standpoint, based on Directive 17 of 2022, the Party Central Committee assigned the Party Committee of the Government to direct the review of the Food Safety Law and research the improvement of the management apparatus towards a unified single point of contact.

The Politburo 's Resolution 31 on the development of Ho Chi Minh City recently also allows for the decentralization and delegation of power to the city in several areas, including organizational structure. "Legally, relevant laws such as the Food Safety Law already have regulations," said Ms. Tra.

In practical terms, the Minister of Home Affairs stated that the Government has been piloting food safety management boards since 2017 in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Bac Ninh. The evaluation process showed that Ho Chi Minh City's pilot program was the most effective.

"Therefore, the basis for establishing the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department is now complete, and it can be piloted for 5 years, after which its effectiveness will be evaluated," Ms. Tra said.

Ms. Tra also added that the Ministry of Interior will soon study the decentralization of authority to provincial-level governments, based on specific requirements and conditions, to establish administrative organizations that are specialized agencies under the Provincial People's Committee, in order to ensure suitability.

"If the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department operates effectively and efficiently, the Ministry of Interior will, when necessary, advise on studying the establishment of food safety departments in major cities," Minister Tra emphasized.

Ms. Tra also affirmed that although additional coordinating agencies are being established, the overall organizational structure remains unchanged, in order to implement the Party Central Committee's directive that there should be only one unified agency to manage food hygiene and safety.

During group discussions, many delegates also expressed their agreement with the proposal to allow Ho Chi Minh City to pilot the establishment of a city-level food safety department.

"The establishment of a food safety department as a specialized agency of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee is, in my opinion, now ripe for action, after more than six years of piloting. This establishment will not increase the staffing levels, maintaining the current staff of the food safety management board and transferring some state management functions from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade," said delegate Nguyen Thanh Sang (Ho Chi Minh City delegation).

Among the 44 specific policies proposed by the Government for Ho Chi Minh City in the new draft resolution, there is a proposal to establish a Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department by transferring the functions of state management of food safety; inspection, handling of legal violations, and handling of administrative violations related to food safety; and issuing certificates of quarantine for animal products leaving the city from relevant departments to the Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Department.

The Ho Chi Minh City Food Safety Board has been operating on a pilot basis since 2017 and is currently headed by Ms. Pham Khanh Phong Lan, former Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health.

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