At its thirteenth session, the Committee on Health and the Family discussed and in principle endorsed the Sanitation Supervision Bill. Representatives of the Ministry of Health also took part in the session.

Presenting the Bill, the Minister of Health, Tomica Milosavljevic, underlined that it will harmonise regulations in the field with the legal system as a whole, adding that its adoption was necessary due to the transfer of responsibilities from Federal to Republic bodies.

The Sanitation Supervision Bill aims to provide better protection for the public from contagious diseases, as well as to ensure the control of the quality of foodstuffs and public water supplies. Its provisions clearly define the competencies of inspectors, who, in cases of incidents, are authorised to propose measures and monitor the results of their implementation.

The session also discussed the manner of treating complaints raised by members of the public. It was agreed to form a commission to discuss the complaints, and forward them to the relevant body, if they do not fall into the Committee’s field of competence. The Committee will discuss complaints from its field of competence at sessions.

With nine votes in favour, and five abstentions, the Committee ruled that fiscal cash registers should not be compulsory for private doctors’ offices. The Committee is to hold a session at which the Minister of Finance will be invited to explain how such a provision could be incorporated into legislation.