Legislative Assembly 2nd Standing Committee President Chan Chak Mo announced Thursday that under the government’s food safety bill, the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) would take full responsibility for the handling of suspected food safety violations.
Chan, who spoke to reporters after a meeting between members of his committee and government representatives, said that with the passage of the bill into law there would be no overlapping duties when any of the government’s several dozen bureaus discovered food safety concerns in Macau’s cafes, snack bars, food stalls, restaurants or food processing factories.
“If inspectors find anything that raises food safety concerns, they should immediately notify the IACM,” Chan, who is a well-known restaurateur, said. “… For example, if officials from the Health Bureau (SSM) inspect a restaurant to examine its hygiene such as [the presence of] mice, insects and mosquitoes and uncover food safety concerns such as rotting food, they should call the IACM.”
Chan said that the IACM would look into any such case and determine who would be held responsible.
He added that the bill also states that restaurant owners must keep their receipts on food imports or relevant documents for a certain period of time so that IACM officials can investigate cases of possibly food safety violations.
According to the Macau Post Daily, Chan said that government representatives had pledged to committee members that the government would continue to consult people in the food and beverage industry regarding the specifics, adding that the new measures would come into effect six months after bill has been gazetted.(macaunews)
