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Rules on milk imports abundant but lax
The widespread presence on the local market of melamine laced milk powder imported from China has raised a big question mark about the capability of inspection of food imports.
The country has an ordinance governing food hygiene and safety and this ordinance requires all food imports to be inspected to ensure they are safe for users. But in reality, inspectors have not done a good job.
After news about the toxic milk scandal broke in China, Tran Quang Trung, chief inspector of the Ministry of Health, told reporters that in principle, all milk products having brands and origin must be cleared by the customs before they enter the local market.
"So these products meet quality requirements and are inspected by the relevant authorities," he said, showing his strong belief in the capability of food hygiene and safety inspection at border gates.
His reasoning is based on a decision which the Ministry of Health issued on March 29, 2007, requiring compulsory inspections of food imports. Decision 23/2007/QD-BYT forces goods owners to register for inspection at least five days before the arrival of the import shipment at the border gate.
However, Golden Seal, an importer based in HCMC, said on Monday that melamine was found in the YiLi Pure Milk brand which the company bought from Inner Mongolia YiLi Industrial Group Co. Ltd.
There are around 100 border gates nationwide through which hundreds of thousands of tons of food enter the local market. But as observed in the middle of last year by the Daily at one border gate in the country's north, which borders China, food inspections are lax.
The inspectors ordered truck drivers to stop and asked for papers like contracts, certificates of origin, tax invoices and quarantine certificates issued by exporting countries.
An inspector at this border gate said perception plays a key part in such food hygiene and safety inspections.
Inspectors just look into how goods are packaged, expiry dates, colors and odor, he said, adding that in some cases, samples are taken for testing to see whether they contain higher-than-permitted pesticide residues and the toxic chemical aflatoxin.
The list of additives allowed in food by the Ministry of Health is long, 99 pages but only applicable to imports through official channels.
Food imports through border trade are impossible to be inspected. Large volumes of vegetables, meat, fish, eggs and milk powder often slip into the country via border trade.
For example, at Xa Xia border gate in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang, according to the province's preventive health care center, there is 2,400 kg of pork officlally imported a month but via border trade, the volume totals about 4,000 tons.
Despite about 100 border gates operational around the country, there are only eight international medical quarantine centers and 32 provincial preventive health centers tasked with undertaking the food hygiene and safety inspection job.
These facilities seriously lack testing equipment, however.
Moreover, food imports are mainly subject to animal and plant quarantine requirements.
Each food importer must secure product quality certification by the Department of Food Hygiene and Safety and each shipment also requires a separate quality certificate from the quality testing center 3.
But Golden Seal's import shipment of milk adulterated by melamine still got quality certification for import.
VNN
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