Muscat: The Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources has amended the Food Safety Law.

Penalties ranging from a fine of OMR 100 to OMR 5,000 have been introduced for manufacturing food items without obtaining a license, or dealing with counterfeit foodstuff or harmful substances that are not suitable for human consumption.

Establishments covered under the law include restaurants and cafes, fast food restaurants, bakeries, public kitchens, food processing plants, mills, livestock slaughterhouses, shopping malls as well as refrigerated, frozen, canned and dry food stores.

The text of the Ministerial decision reads, "The text of Article 37 of the Food Safety Regulations referred to herein shall be replaced by the following:

Without breaching the penalties laid down in the Food Safety Law, an administrative fine shall be imposed on any person who commits any of the offenses set out in Annex 2 attached to these regulations. The fine shall be doubled if the same violation is repeated within two years from the date of the first offense."

The list of irregularities and administrative fines under the law include a fine of not less than OMR 200 and not more than OMR 5,000 riyals for handling of counterfeit food items, a fine of not less than OMR 500 riyals and not more than OMR 2,000 if the details of food content is not clearly defined in the explanatory card or if it contains alcohol or parts of pig.

The new law commuted the penalties by half compared to the Royal Decree No. 84/2008 on the issuance of the Food Safety Law.

Chapter Four of the Penal Code stipulates that: "Without breach of any more severe penalty stipulated in the Omani Penal Code or any other law, anyone who contravenes the provisions of this law and the regulations and decisions issued, shall be punishable by imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding OMR 10,000 or by either of the two penalties.The penalty shall be doubled if the same offense is repeated." 

© Muscat Media Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

Disclaimer: The content of this article is syndicated or provided to this website from an external third party provider. We are not responsible for, and do not control, such external websites, entities, applications or media publishers. The body of the text is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and has not been edited in any way. Neither we nor our affiliates guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions expressed in this article. Read our full disclaimer policy here.