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Stronger laws pave way to better food
By Wang Ying (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-27 03:18
From inferior milk powder to dyed dried shrimps, from vegetables with high
pesticide-residues to pickles with toxic levels of additives, food safety
scandals have been hitting the headlines in recent years and arousing
considerable disquiet among consumers.
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| Ding Qiaoxia, a butcher in Anhui Province's Huaibei, proudly shows
off her official stamp of approval which certifies her meat. China is
trying to better standards of food safety by a two pronged approach
tougher laws and a food safety credit index.
[newsphoto] | "I am quite annoyed by the flood of
bad news about inferior food in recent years," said Zhao Shumin, a Beijing
resident in her early 60s.
"When I shop in supermarkets, I often feel confused about what I can buy with
so many scare stories around," she said.
Her anxiety is not wholly unfounded given the increasing number of reports
about food related illnesses.
The most shocking of which concerned more than a dozen infants last year in
Anhui Province who died of malnutrition after being fed inferior milk powder.
To cut food-related illnesses and even fatalities and to provide a sound
shopping guide for consumers, Beijing plans to regularly publish food safety
information beginning later this year.
Food safety credit index
A Food Safety Credit Index, soon to be available in the capital, will give
consumers access to credible food safety information and enable them to properly
assess food quality, said Zhang Zhikuan, director of the Beijing Administration
for Industry and Commerce.
"The index aims to help ensure safer foodstuffs reach shoppers," Zhang said
earlier this month.
The food index, which will be published quarterly, will monitor food brands
sold in supermarkets and through wholesale channels.
"The index will function as a quality spot check for consumers, a means of
self-examination for enterprises and as a reference for foodstuffs safety
reports," said Zhang.
And information listed in the index will be made comprehensible to ordinary
people.
For example, the quality of food sold in the city's districts and counties
will be given a score.
The full mark will be 10, so the better the quality of food the higher its
score, explained officials.
If the index mechanism is found to be effective, it could be promoted
nationwide, officials with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce
said.
Conversely, those found producing unsafe foodstuffs according to the
standards of the index can expect condign punishment, said Xu Zhihui, a
Beijing-based lawyer.
China's food industry has witnessed an explosion in sales in the last decade.
Worth less than 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion) in 1991, food sales soared
to more than 1.1 trillion yuan (US$133 billion) in 2003, according to statistics
from the China National Food Industry Association.
To better ensure food quality and safety, the country has introduced a market
entry system based on quality and safety standards.
Food products can only come onto the market after obtaining production
consent and passing quality checks conducted by the State General Administration
for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine.
Since the beginning of this year, the system began to cover 10 more types of
food, including meat and dairy products, instant, processed, bulk and deep
frozen foodstuffs, spices and beverages.
The original quality standards covered five types of food including rice,
flour, edible oil, soy sauce and vinegar when it was launched on January 1 last
year.
In addition to these measures, an amended scheme for the country's food
quality standards was launched at the beginning of 2005 by nine government
departments, including the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Development
and Reform Commission.
Consumers are being encouraged to look for foods which carry the "QS" symbol
on their labels - this shows the product "meets quality standards."
Legislative controls
Considerable efforts have been made to build up the nation's food safety
supervision network involving a dozen government departments.
Scores of industry associations and agencies have also committed themselves
to upgrading food safety supervision.
The pace of introducing new laws and regulations to safeguard food safety has
also been quickened.
An amendment to the Food Hygiene Law of 1995 which lays down minimum
standards for registration and commencement of processing, storing and selling
of food is currently being reviewed by the State Council's Legislature Affairs
Office.
The amendment is expected to establish a complete food safety concept and
draft detailed implementation rules, covering everything from farmland to dining
tables, to improve overall management in the food production process, said
legislators.
The State Council is working to amend the Industrial Product Manufacture
Licence Management Regulation. Meanwhile, the National People's Congress (NPC)
is drafting the Agricultural Products Quality and Safety law.
The State Council has also urged several government departments, including
the ministries of agriculture, commerce, health, the State Administration for
Industry and Commerce, and the State General Administration for Quality
Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine, to upgrade departmental rules and
regulations concerning food safety.
Ensuring safe food supplies should become one of the nation's highest
priorities, said legislators.
The Education, Sciences, Culture and Health Committee of the National
People's Congress held a seminar late last month to discuss further food safety
laws.
Such legislation should be completed as soon as possible as the issue is
fundamental to the health and well-being of the people, to economic development
and social stability and to the image of the country, Lu Yongxiang,
vice-chairman of the NPC Standing Committee told the gathering.
Lu also called for improved legislation and efficiency to avoid overlapping
laws and regulations.
Many government bodies share the responsibility of safeguarding food safety,
and in such circumstances, problems such as underlined lines of responsibility
and management are likely to occur.
This problem is best met by a universal food safety watchdog responsible for
co-ordinating all various government bodies.
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