Minister of Health, John Junor, holds up a sample of the health certificate which certified food handling businesses have to display in their establishments at a press briefing at his office in downtown Kingston yesterday. OWNERS OF businesses which deal with the storage and handling of foods will have to get their establishments licensed under the amended Food Handling regulations which come into effect tomorrow, September 1.
Minister of Health John Junor who made the announcement at a press briefing at his King Street office in Kingston yesterday, told reporters that changes to the Public Health (Tourist Establishments) and (Swimming Pools) regulations took effect on August 1.
The changes in both sets of regulations come in the face of an increasingly litigious tourist market, as well as the insistence of tour operators and international food processing distributors that the country meet minimum requirements in the handling of food, the Minister said.
"The combined objectives of these pieces of legislation are in fact to allow us to comply with international health standards," Minister Junor said.
The regulations, he added, were also aimed at reducing the incidence of food-borne illnesses, infections, attributable to swimming pools and accidents and injuries in tourist establishments.
Under the new Food Handling regulations, operators of restaurants, supermarkets, food processing plants and similar entities are required to complete an application form which is available at local health departments. Their premises will then be inspected by a public health inspector, after which they will either be granted or refused a licence. The licence, which is not transferable, will have to be renewed annually.
Persons who do not comply with the requirements of both sets of regulations will be subject to a maximum fine of $50,000.
With respect to the Public Health regulations, the provisions include daily inspections of pools, health and safety requirements, conditions of operations as well as water quality.
"A very critical part of the implementation of these regulations is going to be the public education thrust and that has already begun," the Minister said.
He noted that meetings have been held with the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) on the new provisions. Additionally seminars have been conducted with the Ministry's health staff in various regions to educate them about the regulations.
The provisions of the new regulations also allow for increased self-inspection by establishments. This, the Minister said would relieve the pressure on the Ministry's health inspectors who will concentrate more on spot checks, rather than set periodic inspections.
"People must see it as in their interest to monitor their employees," the Minister said. "So a lot of what is in the regulations will require self regulation and record-keeping."
