Food safety, inspection to be regulated
Food safety, inspection to be regulated
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Food Ibrahim Hasan announced
here yesterday that his office plans to issue regulations on food
safety and food inspection to cope with afflictions caused by
damaged or contaminated foodstuffs.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with visiting U.S.
Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, Ibrahim acknowledged that
food regulations, prepared in line with the principles of the
World Trade Organization, were necessary to boost the
competitiveness of Indonesia's products on the world market.
"This is a very urgent matter. It's about time Indonesia had
its food safety and inspection laws because our neighboring
countries, including India and Bangladesh, have had their own,"
he said.
Ibrahim said that in the long run, Indonesia is expected to
have its own food safety and inspection accreditation agency to
ensure that foodstuffs in the country are processed and prepared
to meet international standards.
Ibrahim said that the planned regulations were also discussed
during his meeting with Glickman.
The United States, as a major importer of Indonesian
agricultural commodities, has been providing Indonesia with
technical assistance for the regulations, he said.
"Together with Japan, the United States applies strict
regulations on agricultural products, so we must hear from them
what they expect from us," he said.
The planned regulations, Ibrahim said, would be applied to
exports and imports and may carry penalties of up to Rp 1 billion
for serious violations.
Indonesia currently has very loose laws, which often enable
ill-behaved food producers and distributors, for example, to
cover a label of expiration or to imprint a foodstuff with
inaccurate ingredients.
The planned food regulation bill, which is currently in the
making and is expected to be passed by legislators later this
year, will be applied to small and large food producers.
Foreign and local experts, including those from the United
Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, are also involved in
formulating the legal aspects of the planned law. (pwn)