[Editorial] Fighting Over How to Streamline Food Safety

In the wake of the discovery of parasite-infested gimchi and other problems with the country's food, the government has announced it will establish strong food safety measures. The lesson it has learned comes at a harsh price, so the people are hoping to see an improvement in the government's currently shabby food safety system. Still, is disappointing and pathetic the way the government is handling the problem.

Key to the government's new system is streamlining the work of food safety, which is spread out over 230 laws that relate to the work done by eight government ministries. However, the Office for Government Policy Coordination says no less than five duplicate proposals appeared at Friday's consultative meeting between the government and the ruling party. What happened is that the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and the Ministry of Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries were unable to figure out their differences, so they all brought their own proposals to the meeting. That is an unprincipled and irresponsible approach possible only because those ministries forgot about the government's basic duty to coordinate policy. They deserve to hear critical questioning, such as, "has it been decided that the party will determine policy?"

The multiple proposals are pathetic in terms of their content as well. The Ministry of Health and Welfare says that its Food and Drug Administration should be in charge of everything, while the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry wants its new "Food Safety Administration" to run the show. In addition, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries has relatively less authority in the area right now, so it prefers that food safety affairs stays with the prime minister's office. It would be hard not to say those ministries are in a selfish pursuit of a bigger piece of the pie. You get the feeling you are seeing a repeat of the collapse of the effort last year, when the food safety agency discussion eventfully fell apart.

Granted, simplifying diverse and wide-ranging food safety capabilities cannot be as busy as it sounds. It would be worth asking whether integrating the systems in place would actually be efficient or not, and whether it would be better to make for a system of better cooperation between ministries. It should be remembered that the people do not care which ministry oversees everything. They want to know if food safety is being properly maintained. We would like to see the government reiterate its principles, those it announced itself when its said food policy would center on the people.

The Hankyoreh, 19 November 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]