15-Member Parliamentary Subcommittee to Discuss Food Safety Law
The joint parliamentary committees formed on Tuesday a 10-member subcommittee to tackle the contaminated food scandal, granting it a 15-day ultimatum to draft a food safety law.
The subcommittee that will be headed by Mustaqbal MP Atef Majdalani will work on merging two proposals and form a final food safety law.
The first proposal is suggested by Majdalani, while the second by Tripoli MP and former Prime Minister Najib Miqati.
MP Majdalani lauded in a press conference after the joint parliamentary meeting Health Minister Wael Abou Faour's food safety campaign.
“The shock that Abou Faour made gave swift results,” he told reporters gathered at the parliament,” considering that he “restored the citizens faith in the state.”
Majdalani called for the establishment of a food safety association that is independent from all ministries and comprised of technicians and experts.
For his part, Abou Faour vowed to ahead with his campaign against corrupt institutions, noting that the health ministry will resort to the judiciary regarding food safety cases.
He also called for the formation of a general prosecution for food, urging officials to separate the case from politics.
“The food safety case brought the Lebanese closer,” Abou Faour added.
Abou Faour has so far announced three lists of violating institutions that include some popular restaurant chains and supermarkets that are serving customers food contaminated with bacteria and other inedible substances.
Violations included the presence of flies on the refrigerators of dairy products, the presence of open garbage bins in kitchens, workers not wearing gloves, and frying oil that was not changed for months.
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