Latest news with #MinistryofPublicSecurity
Hamilton Spectator
04-06-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Province commits $1.8M to study Nunavik's landslides
The Quebec government is spending $1.85 million to research landslides in Nunavik. The Ministry of Public Security committed $1.15 million to Laval University to launch a research project studying the phenomenon in the region's clay soils, the ministry announced May 30. Work will involve the mapping and characterization of deposits untouched by water but which still present risk of landslide, and compiling an inventory of large landslides that have occurred in Nunavik. 'The results of this project will deepen our understanding of the geological and climatic conditions that control landslide initiation in cold regions such as Nunavik,' Laval University professor Patrick Lajeunesse said in the French-language release. The study 'will play an essential role in strengthening the resilience of northern communities to these processes of land surface change,' he added. Two landslides were confirmed in October 2022 near a river on the Hudson Coast about 60 kilometres south of Umiujaq. And in April 2021, a mudslide dumped 45 million cubic metres of debris into the Great Whale River, about eight kilometres from Kuujjuaraapik and Whapmagoostui, in what would later be described as the second-largest landslide recorded in Quebec history. The provincial government also gave $700,000 to Kativik Regional Government to improve its landslide risk management and increase community resilience. The work involves calculating the risk of landslides across Nunavik, using Inuit knowledge to make a risk management plan, and devising an education plan keeping Inuit culture in mind. Kativik Regional Government chairperson Hilda Snowball said in the release she's pleased the Quebec government 'recognizes the urgent need to further assist our regional government in strengthening its risk management capacity.' She said the funding will help all 14 communities 'deal with the potentially serious residential and environmental emergencies that come with living in Nunavik.' The funding commitment is part of Quebec's Nordic Action Plan 2023-28, which aims to improve knowledge and implement risk mitigation measures for hazards in the North. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
The Star
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Vietnam faces scrutiny over fake milk and lax food safety rules
HANOI: Vietnam is grappling with the spread of counterfeit dairy products and self-declared nutritional supplements, many of which have been sold with unverified medical claims and distributed widely through hospitals, pharmacies and rural markets. Among the most concerning trends is the rise of so-called 'grass milk' (sua co), a marketing term coined by sales teams to promote obscure dairy products lacking recognised branding. Often imported in bulk and repackaged domestically, these products bypass official testing and are circulated under a loose regulatory framework that allows self-declaration without independent quality verification. "Allowing low-quality products into hospitals is a serious warning about weaknesses in our control system," said National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Thi Viet Nga. "Hospitals are supposed to be the most strictly regulated environments." Hospitals and villages targeted The Ministry of Health has responded by ordering hospitals nationwide to scrutinise their use of nutritional and dairy products. Any items deemed substandard must be removed. Yet oversight challenges persist across the supply chain, especially with products that have been self-certified and advertised using exaggerated or misleading claims. In rural areas, sales tactics are aggressive. In Hanoi's Son Tay Town, resident Nguyen Thi Liem described how a sales team brought products directly to her village. "They let each person drink a free cup, then offered promotions and gifts for those who bought it," she said, showing three tins of 'grass milk' she had purchased. Other residents shared similar stories of purchasing these products at marketing events or promotional campaigns. Fake products infiltrate market Authorities say the problem extends well beyond misleading advertising. In a recent high-profile case, the Ministry of Public Security dismantled a counterfeit milk operation spanning Hanoi and nearby provinces. The group had manufactured and sold fake powdered milk in vast quantities, falsely advertising it as a high-quality nutritional product for malnourished children and elderly patients. The products mimicked the branding of well-known companies and claimed to contain premium ingredients, such as colostrum, bird's nest or cordyceps, all of which were later found to be absent or replaced with lower-quality additives. Nutritional analysis revealed that many items contained less than 70 per cent of the substances claimed on their labels. One victim, Pham Bang from Hanoi's Hoai Duc District, said she gave her child fake milk for three years without knowing. "I can't stop thinking about it. I feel so guilty," she said, holding back tears. The product, marketed under the name Betrice, was produced by two companies now under criminal investigation. Each tin cost VNĐ500,000 (about US$20), and was marketed as a nutritional aid for underweight children. Regulatory loopholes under fire These cases have exposed serious weaknesses in Vietnam's food safety regulatory framework. Under Decree 15/2018/NĐ-CP (Decree 15), businesses can self-declare food products after submitting basic safety test results for contaminants like bacteria or heavy metals. However, the law does not require testing of actual nutritional content, creating what critics describe as a 'loophole for counterfeiters.' Officials from Hanoi's Food Safety Sub-Department have acknowledged that while companies must submit test results, the current requirements only cover basic safety indicators, not the product's actual composition. Even more concerning, officials say they rarely conduct post-market sample testing on these products. As a result, once a company's declaration is accepted, products can be legally sold without any further scrutiny, even if the nutritional claims are inaccurate or misleading. "This is not a regulatory breach," one official noted. "We are following current law." The consequences are far-reaching. One recently uncovered counterfeit ring was found to have produced nearly 600 fake milk brands. Many were distributed through pharmacies, online platforms and even hospitals. Another bust in May seized more than 100 tonnes of counterfeit supplements and medical devices from an illicit factory in Hung Yen Province. The products were labelled as imports from France or Spain but had been manufactured with unknown ingredients sourced from local markets. Authorities said the operation, led by a husband-and-wife team, had been running since 2020 and deliberately targeted infants, pregnant women and the elderly, groups most vulnerable to health misinformation. Fragmented oversight, diffused responsibility Critics say Vietnam's food safety oversight is hampered by fragmentation and overlapping mandates. The Ministry of Health regulates processed foods, supplements and imports. The Ministry of Agriculture oversees production at the farming level, while the Ministry of Industry and Trade monitors distribution and packaging. Local agencies are responsible for licensing, enforcement and inspections. This multi-agency model has led to a diffusion of responsibility, with no single body held accountable when unsafe products reach consumers. In the recent fake milk case, officials from all involved agencies cited procedural compliance to deflect blame. Directive 17, issued by the Communist Party Secretariat in October 2022, called for a single national food safety agency. Yet nearly three years later, implementation has stalled due to resource constraints. "We must urgently revise Decree 15 and implement a unified food safety authority,' said Deputy Health Minister Do Xuan Tuyen. "Oversight must be tightened so that only products meeting quality standards can enter the market." Calls for reform and ethics education Lawmakers and experts are proposing sweeping reforms. These include mandatory third-party testing for high-risk products such as infant formula, public disclosure of post-market inspection results, and tighter controls on advertising. NA Deputy Nguyen Thi Viet Nga called for stricter enforcement and harsher penalties, arguing that the problem extended beyond regulatory loopholes. She pointed to greed and the erosion of business ethics as key factors, noting that some individuals knowingly put public health at risk in pursuit of profit. She proposed making business ethics a mandatory subject in all economics and business-related university programmes, warning that without early education in integrity, such violations were likely to continue. Lawyer Hoang Van Ha of ARC Law Firm said the current self-declaration system under Decree 15 was vulnerable to abuse without a robust post-market inspection framework. He argued that businesses should be required to submit not only safety results, but also the analytical methods used to verify product quality, allowing authorities to detect violations through periodic testing. Ha added that regulatory agencies should be held accountable for oversight failures, and called for more frequent inspections and stronger inter-agency coordination. Pharmacist Nguyen Xuan Hoang, Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Functional Foods, suggested that requiring declared testing methods would help distinguish legitimate manufacturers from counterfeiters, as fraudulent producers would be unable to meet methodological standards. He also proposed that while waiting for formal amendments to Decree 15, technical regulations could be updated to tighten control over testing procedures and prevent low-quality products from entering the market. - Vietnam News/ANN
Time of India
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Has China asked its citizens not to marry Bangladeshi women? 'Don't be misled'
Chinese embassy asked citizens in Bangladesh to not marry Bangladeshis. (AI image) Chinese media has confirmed an order that the embassy in Bangladesh issued Sunday asking Chinese men to not marry Bangladeshis. The order was more of a reminder that there are many dating app, cross-border matchmaking agents promising Chinese men brides from foreign countries like Bangladesh. But no such marriage agency is allowed in Chinese law, the reminder said urging Chinese men in Bangladesh to not be misled by cross-border dating content on video platforms. They should reject the idea of "buying a foreign wife" and think twice before marrying in Bangladesh, the embassy states, Global Times confirmed. According to Chinese law, no marriage agency is allowed to engage in or disguise engagement in cross-border marriage matchmaking services, and no individual is permitted to carry out or disguise such activities through deception or for profit, the embassy said. Chinese citizens are advised to stay away from commercial cross-border marriage agencies and remain vigilant against online romance scams to avoid both financial and personal losses. Victims of such scams should report to the public security authorities in China immediately, according to the embassy. The embassy warned that Banglesh too has strictly laws on human trafficking and anyone involved in illegal cross-border marriages in Bangladesh may face arrest on suspicion of trafficking. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Air conditioners without external unit. (click to see prices) Air Condition | Search Ads Search Now Undo Judicial procedures I Bangladesh are often lengthy and if a person is arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, it may take even years from police filing to court sentencing the embassy warned. An Independent report claimed that China has a surplus of 35 million men who are unable to find brides as China;s one-child policy to control population led to a dearth of women as girls were abandoned or aborted. The number of marriages has also seen a steep decline as 6.1 million marriage registrations were recorded in 2024 compared to 7.7 million in 2023, the report said. Who are Shengnan Shidai? Shengnan Shidai in Chinese referred to an era of leftover men. This is an Internet term that refers to the period from 2020 to 2050 as in this period an estimated 30 million to 50 million Chinese men are expected to remain without a wife. In 2024, China's Ministry of Public Security launched a campaign against trafficking of women from other countries as a trend was noticed in which women and girls from neighboring countries were tricked by brokers promising well-paid employment in China. They were sold for between US$3,000 and US$13,000 to Chinese men.
AsiaOne
29-05-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
North Korea and Russia's vice ministers discuss cooperation in Pyongyang, World News
SEOUL — Russia's Vice Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaly Shulika and Ri Song-chol, North Korea's vice minister of public security, held a meeting to discuss expanding co-operation and exchange, state media reported on Thursday (May 29). The meeting was held on Wednesday in Pyongyang, KCNA reported. Officials from North Korea's Ministry of Public Security and Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs as well as those from the Russian embassy in Pyongyang attended the meeting, the report added. A delegation led by Shulika arrived in Pyongyang on Monday, KCNA reported earlier this week. [[nid:716437]]
Straits Times
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
North Korea and Russia's vice ministers discuss cooperation in Pyongyang
North Korea and Russia's vice ministers discuss cooperation in Pyongyang SEOUL - Russia's Vice Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaly Shulika and Ri Song Chol, North Korea's vice minister of public security, held a meeting to discuss expanding cooperation and exchange, state media reported on Thursday. The meeting was held on Wednesday in Pyongyang, KCNA reported. Officials from North Korea's Ministry of Public Security and Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs as well as those from the Russian embassy in Pyongyang attended the meeting, the report added. A delegation led by Shulika arrived in Pyongyang on Monday, KCNA reported earlier this week. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
