House Chairperson and hon Deputy Minister, food control mechanisms are characterised by fragmentation of authorities, legislation and lack of co-ordination between the departments that you have just mentioned, namely, the Department of Health, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Sometimes there is limited capacity - inadequate scientific input - with regard to the decision-making processes and also lack of financial and human capacity.
On 21 June 2013, there was a joint committee meeting where this issue of the meat industry's mislabelling was discussed. The proposal was agreed upon for the establishment of a specialised inspection unit comprising a legal team on food law which was aimed at providing support to the technical enforcement teams.
Now, my question is: Has the proposal been approved; if not, why not; if so, has any framework been established which will cover the scope of their duties; if not, why not?