On the afternoon of November 11, the National Assembly conducted questions and answers on a group of issues in the health sector.
Raising the question, delegate Dang Thi Bao Trinh (Quang Nam delegation) said that with the mentality that functional foods are nutritious, have no side effects, and are introduced as hand-carried goods, consumers do not hesitate to spend money on those products.
Delegates requested the Minister of Health to clarify state management responsibilities and solutions in the coming time to control the purchase and sale of these products.
Delegate Tran Thi Thu Hang (Dak Nong Delegation) reflected that currently, the issue of managing functional foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics is receiving public attention with existing problems that have not been completely resolved.
The market is flooded with functional products, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics of unknown origin, poor quality, and without licenses but with exaggerated effects and advertisements that lead to risks to consumers' health.
The delegates proposed that the Minister clarify the responsibility of the Ministry of Health for the existing problems and limitations in the management of these items and solutions in the coming time.
Responding to questions from delegates, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that hand-carried functional foods is a phrase used by consumers, referring to imported products brought back by people going abroad.
There is no such concept in current legal documents. When functional foods are brought from abroad and used for personal use, they are not subject to management.
But if those foods are brought out for sale, the condition for trading in functional foods is that the food safety management agency must accept the product declaration registration, and the product must be labeled according to the regulations of Vietnamese law.
According to the minister, there is currently a situation where functional foods and cosmetics of unknown origin are sold in stores, or sold via social networks and e-commerce platforms.
The Minister affirmed that if products are sold, they must fully comply with regulations related to product registration and declaration. Selling products without such declaration is a violation of the law.
For advertising products, there must be a certificate of advertising content provided by competent authorities. Selling online products of unknown origin and not fully meeting regulations is a violation.
Analyzing the cause of this situation, the minister said that the profit level makes some people disregard the provisions of the law.
Another reason is that controlling sales on social networks is still difficult.
The Minister said that in the coming time, the Ministry of Health will actively coordinate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Ministry of Information and Communications to strengthen control of sales in the market, promote information and propaganda so that consumers have the right awareness.
The Ministry of Health and other ministries have established a rapid response team to handle violations according to the functions and tasks of each agency and ministry.
However, the biggest problem today is related to social networks, when the server is located abroad, so control is beyond the scope of the authorities.
