On the morning of July 9, continuing the 25th session, the Hanoi People's Council held a question-and-answer session on issues of concern to voters and delegates.
At the question-and-answer session, Mr. Nguyen Manh Quyen, Vice Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee, said that in recent times, the city's food safety work has achieved some positive results.
Through inspections, the phenomenon of "a two- soluble cow, a pig in two cages" (one soluble cow, one cage for sale; one soluble cow, one cage for eating) basically no longer exists. And this is a good sign.
However, the leader of the Hanoi People's Committee admitted that according to the reflection, there is still a phenomenon of secretly spraying pesticides at night, then harvesting them for sale the next morning. The city will continue to strengthen management of this issue.
Although the situation of " spraying pesticides the day before and selling the day after" is no longer as common as before and food safety assurance has made progress, it still cannot erase the confusion and anxiety of the people, requiring management agencies to take more strict handling and control measures.
Because the problem is, urban people have little ability to distinguish between safe vegetables and those sprayed with pesticides, and it is even more difficult to control if goods are brought to traditional markets.
Meanwhile, spontaneous vegetable growing areas or areas not in the control chain still exist, which are "beds" for violations to creep in.
frankly acknowledging, Hanoi leaders have shown a spirit of openness to the West by not avoiding negative phenomena, and at the same time pledged to strengthen management. However, to shift from identifying problems to handling them at the root, more concrete and drastic steps are needed.
First of all, Hanoi needs to expand and increase safe vegetable production areas according to the plan, closely linked to the consumption system such as supermarkets, schools, and collective kitchens. When there is a stable output, farmers will have the motivation to produce according to the standard process, instead of doing manual farming and then bringing it to the market to sell.
However, the city should step up control at the unit market - where vegetables from other regions flow in before being distributed everywhere. By quickly testing on-site pesticide residues, randomly selecting samples and announcing results periodically. This not only improves inspection efficiency, but also helps detect early unsecured shipments.
Another solution is to apply traceability of vegetables for consumption at traditional markets, especially in inner-city districts.
In particular, Hanoi also needs to increase sanctions for illegal spraying and early harvesting that are harmful to health. It is necessary to publicize the list of violating households, especially in markets so that consumers have a basis for choice, while creating social pressure on those who still deliberately violate.
It is known that food safety is a difficult and complicated field, but it cannot be left unused because of the difficulty. It is uncertain to rest assured that each meal of the people is still at risk of good luck because the origin of the food cannot be controlled.
Resolutely and thoroughly resolving the phenomenon of " spraying medicine the previous day and selling the next day" is not only a management requirement, but also a moral responsibility in urban management.
