National Assembly delegates agreed yesterday that the Ministry of Health (MoH) would take primary responsibility for managing activities related to cooking safety.

Priority should be given to improving the development of a long-term programme for clean vegetable production, aquaculture, and livestock cultivation and slaughter, along with regulations on food imports and exports.

“Management of food safety should be decentralised to local administrations in order to improve management activities in the field,” said Deputy Vo Thi De from Long An Province.

According to De, the draft law should include a specific article for activities relating to the management of street food safety, which has caused a number of food poisoning cases in Viet Nam. Priorities should be given to strengthening inspections of human resources in the field, particularly in local areas.

Deputy Do Manh Hung from Thai Nguyen Province said food safety violations currently cost violators about US$10 per case, not enough to deter future incidents.

Priority should be given to improving the development of a long-term programme for clean vegetable production, aquaculture, and livestock cultivation and slaughter, along with regulations on food imports and exports.

“A supervisory system for all stages of production, manufacture, distribution and consumption is a key factor for controlling food safety activities. Human resources take an important role in the effectiveness of food safety management activities,” said Deputy Ho Thi Thu Hang from Vinh Long province.

Disabled people

In the afternoon, deputies discussed the draft law on disabled people.

Deputies Nguyen Hong Ha from Ha Noi, Le Thi Nguyet from Vinh Phuc and many others agreed with regulations on classifying types of disability, saying that this would facilitate the collection of statistics to build a database for supportive policymaking.

However, deputies said that the Government should not regulate the classification details. If that were to happen, the implementation of welfare policies would have to wait for the issuance of a Government decree, which would push back welfare policies for the disabled.

Ha suggested that there should be detailed regulations on preferential treatment for women, children and the elderly, and that these treatments should be higher than those for other people.

A detailed regulation covering the responsibility of enterprises in hiring disabled people, not only encouraging them to do so, should also be included, said Nguyet.

Many other deputies said that separate articles should be added to address policies for disabled children and policies on illiteracy eradication for disabled people.

Death penalty

During discussion on a draft law on the Implementation of Criminal Judgement, many deputies agreed executions should only be performed by one method.

The draft law proposed both lethal injection and firing squad as approved methods for carrying out capital punishment.

However, most deputies agreed that lethal injection should be the sole method.

Vice chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee Le Thi Nga said this would be in line with international practice, citing that only 45 countries use-firing squads.

She also mentioned the difficulties associated with the use of firing squads, including the location of the execution and the psychological pressure on executioners.

“The problems with firing squads have not been addressed yet. Besides, using two methods for executions would result in inequality among the condemned and difficulties in choosing the right method,” she said.

Deputy Tran Ba Thieu from Hai Phong City suggested that life sentences should replace the death penalty, without possibility of amnesty.

The draft committee should also amend relevant legal documents to ensure consistency in the law, deputies suggested.

Many deputies agreed that the Ministry of Public Security should be the official body in charge of implementing criminal judgement. However, Deputy Tran Thi Hoa from Lang Son Province said that adequate research needed to be completed in order to set up an independent body in charge of criminal judgement in both civil and criminal cases.

Other deputies expressed concerns regarding the use of prisons as the place of execution.

Disagreement

“We should not pass a regulation such as using temporary jails to hold execution into law,” said Deputy Le Thi Nga from Thai Nguyen Province.

Deputy Tran Thi Quoc Khanh from Ha Noi agreed saying this would require upgrades to numerous temporary jails and prisons.

The draft law included a scope of regulations, co-ordinating principles between organisations and individuals, supervision of sentences, international co-operation, implementation of judicial measures and prohibited behaviours.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News