In recent days, information related to the case of smuggling nearly 300 tons of diseased pork into the market, including hundreds of primary schools and kindergartens in Hanoi, has received much attention from public opinion.
At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MARD), Mr. Phan Quang Minh - Deputy Director of the Department of Livestock and Veterinary Medicine - affirmed that this is a particularly serious case, not only increasing the risk of disease spread, affecting food safety and people's health, but also affecting discipline and order in the performance of official duties and the effectiveness of state management in the veterinary field.
Faced with the above situation, on March 30, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment advised and submitted to the Prime Minister for promulgation Official Dispatch No. 26/CD-TTg on rectifying slaughtering control, strengthening discipline and order in the performance of official duties to strictly control input, slaughtering process and product confirmation, and at the same time strengthen control of the issuance and use of quarantine stamps," Mr. Minh informed.
In the coming time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will establish working groups to organize thematic inspections on slaughtering activities and slaughter control nationwide. At the same time, review and improve management mechanisms in the direction of chain management, traceability and risk management, taking slaughtering as the control center to ensure traceability of animal products.
To have safe food products, control needs to be carried out synchronously in all stages from livestock facilities (supervision, detection, disease treatment), trading chains, transportation, slaughtering. Coordinate with localities and relevant ministries and sectors to promptly detect and strictly handle slaughtering facilities that do not meet conditions.
In particular, strengthen and rectify the quarantine work of the veterinary force at slaughterhouses; further strengthen the quarantine stage across borders and inland," Mr. Minh added.
Regarding this issue, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Phung Duc Tien requested to clarify the responsibility between the central and local levels. "It is necessary to look directly at the current situation with tens of thousands of small-scale slaughterhouses, control is still limited. Meanwhile, centralized slaughtering models have not been effective, leading to the situation of spontaneous slaughtering returning. Therefore, it is necessary to review and re-evaluate the entire system, from facilities, equipment to management organization," Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized.
The Deputy Minister also noted that the direction and administration work must be substantive and timely, avoiding delays and lack of decisiveness in handling. Units need to improve responsibility, stick to reality, and focus on solving hot issues such as food safety, disease control, and unqualified slaughtering.
