BEIRUT: Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan criticized Monday the health ministry's food safety campaign for what he said was a negative impact it has had on the economy and food exports.
“The impact on [business revenues], when fabricated and illogical information is released, incurs great damage to the owners of institutions, to the extent that they are destroyed economically,” he said in a news conference.
The campaign has mostly delivered accurate information with regards to the violators but “not all cases” are true, he added.
Hajj Hasan also noted that once a company is blacklisted, it is very difficult for it to bounce back even after they clear their violations because news that a food establishment has addressed its violation does not generate media attention.
Hajj Hasan said that the food safety campaign has conveyed a “distorted image” of Lebanese production. Giving an example, the industry minister said that if 10 dairy producers violated health safety standards, then that does not mean that the 250 dairy producers in Lebanon all fail to meet health regulations.
“We should not generalize in this case. Some export orders have been cancelled because of what has been discussed recently,” he added.
The industry minister noted that the food production industry employs approximately 50,000 workers and constitutes 4 percent of Lebanon’s GDP.
According to Hajj Hasan, the food industry’s pivotal role in the Lebanese economy urges caution with regards to measures taken against food violators, especially the decision to close down a factory.
The comments came after Hajj Hasan met with the ministers of agriculture and health to agree on the prerogatives of each amid the food safety campaign.
They agreed that food safety violations within factories would fall under the prerogatives of the industry ministry.
Any ministerial inspector that reveals any violation inside a factory must first notify the industry ministry who would then decide on what measures to take.
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