Law on Food Safety and Quality Is Not Implemented, Making Cambodia a Trash Basket for Foreign Leftovers – Wednesday, 19.8.2009

Posted on 20 August 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 626
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“A food safety and quality law was adopted by the National Assembly in 1996, attempting to protect the health and wellbeing of the citizens, but it unfortunately this law has been ignored and is not implemented effectively.

“Cam-Control officials who have the obligation to check goods at distribution points and at markets do not apply the above law strictly. Vendors who respect the law and do not dare to sell no-quality or expired goods, said that Cam-Control officials never pay attention to check goods thoroughly, but they just go to check occasionally, but it is not for checking, but to collect money from the vendors and from businesspeople who do illegal business by distributing or selling no-quality or expired goods.

“They went on to say that Cam-Control officials inform illegal vendors and businesspeople in advance about the date they will go to check goods and instruct them to remove their no-quality and expired goods from the locations to be checked, and replace them with legal goods to deceive the public.

“Citizens who use no-quality or expired goods accused Cam-Control officials, especially also the Ministry of Commerce, of destroying their health and wellbeing. Citizens asked why Cam-Control officials earn state salaries from the taxes paid by citizens, but why do they work to serve the interests of illegal vendors and businesspeople.

“Vendors and businesspeople added that no-quality or expired goods are imported through international border crossings, especially from Vietnam. Some other types of goods have expired, because they were kept too long at the stores or could not be sold.

“Occasionally, the authorities had cracked down on no-quality goods, such as chicken meat and eggs imported from Siam [Thailand] and Yuon [Vietnam]. One real example is the no-quality chicken meat confiscated recently by the authorities in Sen Sok district, Phnom Penh.

“According to the above source, a businesswoman, whose husband is a military police official, took up the business of importing no-quality chicken meat from Siam [Thailand] for a long time, but the local authorities did not intervene, keeping it as their ‘rice-cooking pot.’ The reason of the recent crack-down is that the businesswoman had stopped paying bribes to the authorities, because that place is no longer in the area of Russey Keo district under those who formerly controlled it.

“Formerly, the storehouse for illegal goods was under the control of the Russey Keo district, but after the Royal Government decided to create the Sen Sok district in Phnom Penh, two districts of Russey Keo were cut off to be under the control of the Sen Sok district.

“People living at the above location said that there would not have been any crack-down, if there had been no conflict of interest between the new district authorities and the Russey Keo authorities. Citizens complained not only about no-quality or expired goods, but they also expressed deep concerns about the contamination of food with chemicals, such as in the case of all kinds of meat, so that it maintains a good appearance, to look like Prahok and Po’ok, so that flies do not gather around it, and vegetables and fruits looking fresh, with Kuy Teav [noodle soup], and Num Banhchok [Khmer traditional noodle] so that it appears fresh, with fish sauce, soy sauce, and chili sauce, so that it can be kept for a long time etc… Chemicals are used with many other kinds of food.

“A doctor who asked not to be named told Khmer Amatak that eating food containing chemicals can seriously affect the health, resulting in liver cirrhosis (?), or kidney stones, nerve problems, diabetes, and other diseases. He warned that adding chemicals to food will lead to long term health problems and reduces the life expectancy of citizens.

“The director of the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture, Dr. Yang Saing Koma, said that Khmer farmers are using chemical fertilizers to grow paddy rice, vegetable, and fruits, to produce high yields. He warned that using chemical fertilizers not only affects those who apply the chemicals, but also seriously affects those who eat the products.

“He called on the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries to take action to prevent the import of fertilizers with high chemical effects, and to announce their hazards. He recommends that the Ministry of Agriculture organize programs to train farmers to use organic fertilizers. Dr. Saing Koma said that his organizations has organized training courses to teach farmers how to produce using organic fertilizers.

“Khmer farmers blamed the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries for not taking strict action to prevent the import of chemical fertilizers by illegal dishonest businesspeople and for not making the hazards of using chemical fertilizers widely known, which allowings those businesspeople to continue cheating Khmer farmers to use chemical fertilizers, which seriously affect their heath and waste national resources.

“The World Health Organization had asked the Ministry of Health of Cambodia to crack down on the import of expired medicines and medicines produced with improper standards, especially from black markets. The World Health Organization had warned about the serious health hazards for Khmer citizens, specifically for farmers who live in remote areas where there are no proper health systems, and they frequently buy medicines from unlicensed pharmacies or from unprofessional medics.

“No-quality and expired medicines are trafficked countrywide without thorough checking by the Ministry of Health. Many pharmacies are run with no license, but the Ministry of Health does not penalize them according to the law. It is reported that some officials of the Ministry of Health commit corruption when they go to check private pharmacies and clinics.

“Also, the production of pure [bottled drinking] water in Cambodia is facing serious problems, because the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy does not check the production properly. Many types of pure water is being sold around Cambodia, and it is known that many brands do not have quality standards. Officials are accused of committing corruption when they go to check for pure water, fish sauce, soy sauce etc. by exchanging Khmer citizens’ health and wellbeing for their own benefit.

“Khmer citizens complained that at present, Cambodia is becoming a trash bin to accept goods that other countries throw away, while relevant officials become murderers who collude with wicked businesspeople and use the health and lives of citizens as their capital.

“Khmer citizens would like to call on the Royal Government, especially the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Commerce, to take thorough measures to prevent the import of no-quality or expired goods and the import of chemical fertilizers which is a way to guarantee health and wellbeing of the citizens, and particularly to save their money. The Royal Government must take action against Cam-Control officials who commit corruption, leading to damage to citizens’ health.”

Khmer Amatak, Vol.10, #639, 19.8.2009
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Wednesday, 19 August 2009