Counterfeit goods are rampant because businesses self-announce them.

Police inspect fake milk warehouse in Hanoi

Reporter: Currently, counterfeiting of functional foods, nutritional foods and medical nutritional foods is quite common. Can you tell us the cause of this situation?

Ms. TRAN VIET NGA: Recently, the police have dismantled a number of fake food production and trading lines, including fake milk and fake health protection foods.

As the standing agency of the Central Steering Committee on Food Safety, we have been closely coordinating with the Ministry of Public Security to make final assessments and conclusions on these cases.

We consider these to be serious incidents and also a wake-up call for those who are or intend to produce and trade in counterfeit goods.

Ms. Tran Viet Nga, Director of the Department of Food Safety, Ministry of Health

The situation of fake food and counterfeit goods in general does not only exist in Vietnam but also in many countries around the world. According to some documents, the production of fake food causes losses of tens of billions of Euros to Europe every year. Independent experts also estimate that the global food industry suffers losses of about 40 billion USD due to fake food.

In Vietnam, this situation is partly caused by shortcomings in the management mechanism. Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP of the Government stipulates the mechanism for self-declaration of products, creating favorable conditions for enterprises to self-declare and take responsibility for the quality and safety of products.

However, some businesses have taken advantage of this mechanism to do illegal business. Because with the self-declaration mechanism, businesses can self-declare and produce immediately without having the state management agency review the documents. Some businesses self-declare poor quality medical nutrition products and functional food products, this is a law-evading behavior that should be condemned.

Along with that, the self-declaration procedure is quite simple, the documents are not complicated and there is no fee. Therefore, many businesses rush to self-declare their products, but the actual production and business quantity may not match the declared quantity, causing difficulties for state management agencies in inspection and post-audit.

Currently, the legal regulations governing the field of food safety are quite complete, but the inspection and detection of violations in this field are quite limited?

In fact, for the management agency, besides the intentional violations of the business, we also face difficulties due to the large number of declared products. Any business with a business registration can declare food products.

Meanwhile, the post-inspection force is still limited. Post-inspection work includes many activities such as checking records, checking production facilities, taking product samples on the market or at production facilities for testing, the cost of testing is quite high, causing difficulties for localities.

Authorities seized many fake milk products.

To address this issue, the Government is amending the Food Safety Law. We have advised the Ministry of Health to submit to the Government amendments to Decree No. 15/2018/ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Food Safety Law and legal documents in the direction of tightening management and overcoming current shortcomings.

We also recommend that the People's Committees of provinces and cities increase investment in human resources and funding for post-inspection work.

Fake and poor quality food not only appears on the market but is also widely advertised on social networks, even with the participation of many celebrities and medical experts. How do you view this issue and should advertising regulations be amended or supplemented to better protect consumers?

To ensure people have access to safe and quality food products, there needs to be coordinated efforts from many sides.

First of all, production facilities must put business ethics first, strictly complying with all legal regulations on food production and trading. Business honesty and responsibility are the most important foundations for building consumer trust.

Second, the role of state management agencies is indispensable. The timely and complete issuance of legal documents, along with the provision of effective tools to strictly control products circulating on the market, is a key factor in preventing counterfeit and poor quality goods. Inspection, examination and handling of violations must be carried out strictly and regularly.

Along with that, each person also needs to equip themselves with the necessary knowledge to be able to choose food wisely. Finding information about products, origin, ingredients, labels, as well as updating warnings from authorities, will help consumers make informed decisions, protecting the health of themselves and their families.

Thank you!

NGUYEN QUOC

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/hang-gia-tung-hoanh-do-doanh-nghiep-tu-cong-bo-tran-lan-post794334.html