RIYADH: The Shoura Council has asked the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) to study imposing harsh penalties on unlicensed promoters of herbal treatment. The Shoura Council’s recommendation followed a report presented by the Health Committee and comments by its members on the annual report of the SFDA in its 20th ordinary session here on Tuesday.
The Council also called on the SFDA to cooperate with the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) to develop specifications for containers allocated for selling and storage of foods. The council also urged the SFDA to maximize exploitation of its human resources, publish data on its jobs in accordance with functional and demographic changes, and expand female sections in its activities. Later, the Council listened to a report presented by the Committee of Transport, Telecom and IT on a draft project for “transfer and localization of technology.”
Among the recommendations, the committee said the project, if approved, would cope with scientific and technical developments, enhance self-capacity of the Kingdom, raise the efficiency of its technical base, diversify income sources and encourage the spirit of creativity and development. One member spoke about the difficulty in application of the draft system while another female member asked for involvement of representatives of the ministries of health and education in the proposed national council of technology.
Another member, meanwhile, said the technology transfer draft system focused on encouraging the government sector and did not grant the required support to the private sector. Another council member proposed that national companies involved in technology transfer be given customs facilities. In an unrelated issue, the council listened to a report presented by the Committee of Administration and Human Resources based on the annual report of the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF). The committee called on the HRDF to prepare a study on leakage of the private-sector employees, link its performance with a strategic plan of the Jobs Generation Authority, redress unemployment and localize jobs for all categories of society across the Kingdom. The committee also urged the HRDF to cooperate with an experienced firm regularly to verify to what extent beneficiaries of the HRDF are satisfied with its services.
The Shoura Council also approved a memo of understanding for cooperation in housing between the Saudi government and its counterpart in China. The council also appraised two memos of understanding between the Saudi and Egyptian governments on cooperation in the area of labor and fighting corruption. On Monday, a Shoura panel called on the Ministry of Housing to speed up delivery of housing products to citizens and remove any obstacles in the provision of direct loans to citizens through the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF).
