Two-year jail term, up to Dh2 million fine for flouting food safety rules
FNC approves law suggesting jail terms of up to two years and fines ranging from Dh100,000 to Dh2 million for flouting food safety rules.
Federal National Council members at the session on Tuesday. -KT photo by Nezar Balout
Abu Dhabi - The Federal National Council (FNC) on Tuesday approved a draft law on food safety with minor amendments, with suggested jail terms of up to two years and fines ranging from Dh100,000 to Dh2 million for flouting food safety rules.
The bill will be sent back to the Cabinet for its approval and then for presidential assent for implementation. The bill was passed by the Cabinet in March last year.
The house called for the establishment of a federal authority for the research and development of techniques and policies pertaining to food safety in the country. The authority, the FNC suggested, could implement food safety regulations and services with the judicial power of imposing penalties on those found flouting food safety policies.
Under the proposed law, food imports into the country will only be done with the approval of the Ministry of Environment and Water.
Those found importing or distributing unhealthy and dangerous foodstuff will face a prison term of up to two years, and a fine ranging between Dh100,000 and Dh300,000, or both.
The proposed law also authorises the Ministry of Economy to impose fines of up to Dh100,000 for other offences regulated by the Cabinet.
The draft law also states a prison term of not less than a month and a fine of Dh500,000 for those found importing foodstuff containing any by-products of pork and alcohol without permission.
The other penalties include fines ranging from Dh10,000 to Dh100,000 for false description of food items. “Only 6,500 goods, including 300 food items, out of the over 200,000 commodities in the UAE’s markets, are covered by standards of the federal watchdog,” the FNC’s committee report said.
In response to the members’ queries, Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahad, Minister of Environment and Water, said out of the 10 million tonnes of food imported into the UAE, only three per cent was rejected, mainly for offences related to description labels.
Unemployment irks house
The Council also discussed the issue of unemployment among the UAE citizens and the “failure” of the National Human Resource Development and Employment Authority (Tanmia) in issuing figures in this sphere in the last 15 years.
In response to the queries, Abdullah bin Mohammed Ghobash, Minister of State and Head of Tanmia, told the house that the authority is currently working on an electronic format for working out these numbers.
However, a member, Salem Al Amiri, asked him: “How is the authority planning to solve the problem of unemployment when it has no idea how many people are without jobs? The authority was established in 1999 and since then it has failed to disclose any figures about unemployment and job opportunities for the UAE nationals.”
Tuesday’s session, chaired by Speaker Mohammed Ahmed Al Murr, was also attended by Dr Anwar Mohammed Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Minister of FNC Affairs; Dr Abdullah bin Mohammed Balhaif Al Nuaimi, Minister of Public Works; and Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Al Mazroui, Minister of Energy. -nissar@khaleejtimes.com
