Food and Agricultural Standing Committee reviews bill on fortified food

The regular meeting of the Standing Committee on Food, Agriculture and Environment was held on April 17 at the State Palace to discuss the first review of the bill on fortified food.

The bill’s authors believe that the new law will help improve nutritional value of food, reduce the volume of import food, and increase the consumption of enriched domestic organic products.

The standing committee discussed when the new law will be enacted, and as most of the members noted that the date of July 1, 2019, which was proposed in the bill, is not suitable, they put forward a proposal to push back the date to December 31, 2019, and the majority of lawmakers in attendance accepted the new date.

During the meeting, MP B. Saranchimeg put forward a proposal to include enriched food in lunch meals for primary school students and provide low-income families receiving food stamp for fortified food.

Legislator D. Terbishdagva emphasized that there are very few factories producing enriched food in Mongolia, and stated that he is not sure these factories will be able to meet the domestic demand for enriched food.

He noted that as providing primary school students with milk and dairy products made in Mongolia through organic domestic dairy production is significant for promoting the growth of children and their health, he supported B. Saranchimeg’s proposal.

He told the standing committee members to focus on improving parts of the bill which are related to manufacturing of enriched food and production standards.

The standing committee submitted the bill to Parliament for its first discussion.