The government will adopt the management by objectives (MBO) approach to strengthen Taiwan's food safety, Executive Yuan Spokesperson Sun Lih-chyun stated today. Premier Jiang Yi-huah has directed Minister without Portfolio Chiang Been-huang to oversee agencies as they implement food source control measures, encourage business self-management and establish a "food cloud."
In Chiang's report to the premier last week on improving food safety management mechanisms, the minister said he had taken stock of all related laws and regulatory measures and laid out goals for each phase using the MBO method.
Concrete measures in the first phase will cover: strengthening the frontline capabilities of local health bureaus within half a year; completing tasks stated in the amended Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (such as establishing a food safety protection fund, prescribing regulations for labeling the names of genetically modified ingredients, and prescribing the information that food businesses must retain on imported products, the method retention and scope of retention); as well as registering the manufacture, import and sale of food additives and launching a preliminary cloud version to facilitate food tracing.
In the second phase, the government will inject more resources to strengthen central and local agencies' capabilities for guarding food safety, and promote the widespread adoption of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) so that all registered food companies meet Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) requirements. In addition, Chiang hopes to raise the pass rate for food ingredients and products, both at manufacturing sites and on the market.
The premier affirmed Minister Chiang's report and instructed that all sources of food (including those produced domestically and abroad) and the entire farm-to-table process be governed by a comprehensive regulatory system, Sun said.
Premier Jiang also requested the agencies to strengthen management of food sources and encourage businesses to increase their own safety controls. For instance, the Council of Agriculture should step up management over pesticide and animal drug residues, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs should increase liability on distributors and encourage all factories to implement GMP. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Welfare should conduct border inspections, require registered food factories to comply with GHP standards, and take over maintenance of the food cloud.
Food safety incidents and consumer disputes should be dealt with separately, Chiang further said in his report. The former should be addressed through source control and self-management measures, and the latter through the consumer protection mechanism. The government should also establish a rapid, efficient response mechanism and reinforce public awareness and education on food safety issues.
Premier Jiang gave instructions that a food safety promotion task force be established under the Board of Food and Medicine Safety with Chiang serving as convener. This task force should incorporate and strengthen the functions and missions of the Executive Yuan's Food Safety Inspection and Crackdown Task Force and coordinate cross-agency efforts for inspection and crackdown, emergency response and public communication.