The People's Assembly (PA) Speaker Ahmed Fathi Sorour has referred the bill on food safety, which was presented by MP Mohamed Abul Enein, to the PA Legislative Committee for discussion and endorsement. Rashid Mohamed Rashid, Minister of Trade and Industry, has uncovered that a similar draft law was referred to the Cabinet to discuss and referred it to parliament. The government has not discussed this draft law so far. In his speech in the Labor Day early May, President Mubarak announced that the draft law on food safety would be brought to the Parliament's current session, Rashid added.
Official sources said this comes within the framework of a parliamentary government race to win popularity by opening the file of the food safety bill, which was submitted by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to the Cabinet. This bill has provoked heated debate.
Hisham Ragab, Assistant Minister of Trade and Industry for Legal Affairs, said the Cabinet has not discussed the draft law submitted by the ministry due to lack of coordination between the ministries concerned. The bill, discussed by the PA Committee on Industry and Energy a few weeks ago, got much attention from members of the PA and the Shura Council (advisory council).
In the same context, an official government source described opening the file of the food safety law at this time as an attempt by some parties to make a media hype and polish the government's image after the recent series of issues on food safety. The source stressed the importance of not being deceived by these actions that may aim to achieve conflicting interests or goals of some parties having close relationship with the government and some businessmen. Abul Enein, head of the PA Committee on Industry and Energy, said the bill he drafted aims to raise the issues that the society cares about, especially in light of what is being said about the bad wheat deal, the sale of donkeys' meat, and concerns over leakage of pork to the markets. The state spends some LE5 billion on a yearly basis to treat diseases caused by corrupt food. Some 20 laws are applied by 17 control bodies to control food, but the practical application reveals conflicts in competencies of these bodies.
The draft law has been discussed with the Egyptian Chamber of Food Industries, and representatives of the ministries of trade and industry, health and agriculture to reach a happy medium between the demands of food manufacturers and importers on the one hand and consumers on the other. The law aims to eliminate the unauthorized plants, which constitute more than 80% of food products market. It also aims to establish a food safety body to combat the phenomenon of corrupt food leakage. This body should be exclusively responsible for food control to avoid any clash in competencies.
MP Abul Enein added that the draft law aims to eliminate the phenomenon of corrupt food that spread in a number of provinces recently, such as the shipment of wheat, which is full of insects and poisonous weeds, and the shipment of the carcinogenic wheat. In addition, there are concerns over the leakage of the slaughtered pigs to markets and what has been said about basa fish that has been imported from Vietnam, in addition to what is published by the Ministry of Health on a daily basis on the restaurants that sell expired food.
The bill aims to eliminate all sources of unsafe food so that people could get safe food through the control over food in all stages of circulation. In addition, the draft law aims to regulate food circulation and prevent fraud.
