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{
"id": 1104141,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1104141/?format=api",
"text_counter": 150,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tharaka, DP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. George Gitonga",
"speaker": {
"id": 13491,
"legal_name": "George Gitonga Murugara",
"slug": "george-gitonga-murugara"
},
"content": "The Bill is anchored on an Act of Parliament, namely, Chapter 254 of the Laws of Kenya known as the Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act. It is an Act as old as you can imagine, especially when I see that its Regulations were made in 1978. Therefore, this Bill has nothing to do with the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority Act which deals with the growing and husbandry of food. This Bill has everything to do with the control of the quality of food, drugs, and chemical substances. Therefore, as we debate, we need to make it clear that we cannot introduce amendments to deal with how we grow food or how it is distributed. The Bill deals with how you package food and store it before you offer it for consumption. The same applies to drugs. It touches on how you manufacture, package and offer those drugs and other chemical substances, including cosmetics and therapeutic substances, for sale. The Bill is very timely because since the enactment of the Food, Drugs, and Chemical Substances Act, Chapter 254 of the Laws of Kenya, there has been no one to implement it and the regulations made thereunder. From my practice of law, I know for sure that in Nairobi, even the defunct Nairobi City Council askaris used to try to enforce that Act. They would raid supermarkets to see whether the food, drugs and chemical substances in there conform to the main Act. In addition, they would look for whether the food had storage instructions. That is what this Bill deals with. Does the food have an expiry date? That is exactly what is covered by this Bill. If they were unable to understand the rest of the Act because of the complexity of the issues involved, they would run to the Pharmacy and Poisons Board or the Kenya Bureau of Standards to try and interpret whether the Act was being complied with or not. What came out of it was amazing. People could not understand who was actually supposed to enforce that Act. Because of that default, Hon. Pukose, the Departmental Committee on Health and all the other stakeholders have come up with a Bill to establish an authority that would take charge of the Food, Drugs and Chemical Substances Act and the Regulations made thereunder. That is the Bill we have today and are debating. If I am wrong, Hon. Pukose can inform me. I give him that permission. This appears to be a thorough Bill. It is satisfactory for all intents and purposes because we need an authority through which we will be able to establish whether the food in supermarkets, hotels and wherever else food is found is compliant with the standards set in the Standards Act or other Acts of Parliament. Similarly, we need an authority which will tell us whether the drugs we consume or buy - whether from across the counter or from chemists - are in conformity with the standards. Standards are found in various Acts. Almost every good has an Act of Parliament that deals with its standards, including the Standards Act itself, which has various categories such as the standards applicable to food, drugs, chemicals and whatever other substances we are talking about. This Bill needs to be passed. It has been lying around since 2019. Thank heavens it has now come to the House. We hope to complete its debate today and if we do that, we can pass it and have it implemented immediately. That would be of benefit to the country. This Bill deals with various issues which I will not go through because I saw they are actually what an authority should do. This is an authority established under the Act, there are requirements on how it will be established and who will sit in it. We have provisions regarding its responsibilities and it will be about manufacture, packaging and distribution of food, drugs and chemical substances."
}