The Ministry of Health has summarized the opinions received and explained, contributing opinions from ministries and sectors to the draft Law on Food Safety (amended), including the consulting opinions of the Ministry of Justice.
Regarding solutions to strengthen maximum decentralization and assign responsibility to provincial-level People's Committees to organize management units to implement unified management of food products within the locality, the Ministry of Justice believes that the drafting agency proposes solutions to implement maximum decentralization and assign responsibility to provincial-level People's Committees to implement unified state management of food products in localities such as:
Resolving administrative procedures; managing, inspecting, and examining the compliance with food regulations from initial production (cultivation, animal husbandry, harvesting, fishing, exploitation), collection, slaughtering, preliminary processing, processing, preservation, transportation, export, import, and business for food;
Organize the implementation of measures to prevent and prevent incidents, identify and handle food safety incidents and coordinate in emergency response to food safety incidents; manage, supervise, and handle violations of food products circulating within the locality.
However, this solution does not have content regulating the state management responsibility for food safety of the commune-level People's Committee.
The Ministry of Justice believes that Clause 1, Article 12 of the 2025 Law on Organization of Local Government stipulates "The decentralization of power to local governments at all levels must be stipulated in laws and resolutions of the National Assembly, which clearly define the subject of implementation, content, scope of tasks and powers, ensuring the principles of decentralizing authority and in accordance with the tasks and powers of local governments at all levels specified in this Law".
Therefore, the Ministry of Justice proposed that the drafting agency review the contents that need to delegate authority to the commune-level People's Committees in performing state management responsibilities for food safety.
On that basis, research and supplement solutions related to the state management responsibility for food safety of commune-level People's Committees in the draft policy dossier of the Law.
Regarding this content, the Ministry of Health said that it has supplemented regulations on the management responsibilities of commune-level People's Committees.
The draft Law on Food Safety (amended) is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration later this year.
