Every VWU member, woman is active supervisor on food safety
The program launch was co-organized by the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU), the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), and the Vietnam Farmers’ Union (VFU) in Hanoi on May 26, 2018.
Deputy Prime Minister (PM) Vu Duc Dam, VWU PresidentNguyen Thi Thu Ha, and VFU President Thao Xuan Sung attended the ceremony with the participation of thousands of participants including representatives from ministries, sectors, agencies and organizations, VWU and VFA members, farmers, university students, and soldiers from Hanoi and neighboring provinces.
The event was the start of a series of activities to implement the VWU-MARD-VFU 526 joint programme, mobillizing the participation of various sectors and branches of all levels, bringing into play the roles of the VWU and VFU, their members, women and farmers in the production, trading, and consumption of safe agricultural products, in enhancing the application and multiplication of models, advanced production processes, safe food and agricultural products supply, and also in acting as active supervisors on food safety and hygiene.
At the opening ceremony, VFU President Thao Xuan Sung, on behalf of the VFU and the VWU, called on their members, women and farmers as well as the community to increase the sense responsibilities and commitment to safe food production and trading to enhance people’s quality of life and their genetic health.
Speaking at the event, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam noted that in recent years, although the food hygiene and safety work has been conducted strongly and significant and positive changes have been made, there are still problems and gaps, which requires us to try harder. The Government expects close coordination among organizations. Food hygiene and safety is a long-term task and requires persistent efforts, not only strengthened state governance, but also community awareness and practice improvement in production, trading and consumption of safe and hygienic food and products.
Deputy PM Dam stressed that it is important to raise public awareness and knowledge regarding the harms of unsafe food, which poses a direct threat to people’s health, and also their genetic health in the long run; violation of food safety is harming another person’s health, is a violation of the law and more importantly, of ethics. He also said “One should not produce and trade unsafe and unhygienic food and products for their own benefits at any price”.
It is necessary to help people distinguish between safe and unsafe food through quick response (QR) codes, guidelines, and experiences… In addition, it is important to educate people on how to produce, process and trade hygienic and safe food and products. Emulation movements and campaigns of socio-political organizations need to develop criteria for ensuring food safety. “There cannot be a cultured family cultivating vegetables in two beds, raising pigs in two pigsties for separate purposes of household consumption and selling”. The Deputy PM also asked for the strict inspection, supervision and handling of violation of the Food Safety Law.
Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam and other leaders visit booths
At the event, the VWU also launched a contest for ideas of communication on food safety and hygiene. 
At the end of the event, Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam and other delegates pressed the button to start VWU-MARD-VFU joint programme and the communication contest to promote food safety and hygiene.
