The Food Safety Bill passed in 2019 under the former A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) administration, is likely to be amended by the current government, due to the lack of punitive clauses in the legislation.
This is according to Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, during day two of examining the budget estimates.
The Minister was at the time being questioned about a $100 million allocation for equipment. According to him, the allocation is for outfitting the food safety authority lab.
“This year, we will start the construction of the food safety authority building… one of the legislations that APNU/AFC would have passed, the Food Safety Authority Bill, which we have to bring back here for amendment because it had very few punitive clauses,” the Minister noted.
According to Mustapha, he is hopeful that the food safety authority can be established later this year when the building is completed.
