China boosts food licences amid global scares
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
BEIJING, Oct 9 (AFP): Nearly 80 per cent of China's food processing companies have received production licences, state media said today, in an apparent bid to address overseas concerns about product safety.
A four-month food safety campaign, launched in late August in response to a spate of safety scandals worldwide involving Chinese-made products, aims to have 100 per cent of food producers licensed, the China Daily said.
"Although the goals are difficult to achieve, we'll do our utmost to ensure a successful campaign," said Li Changjiang, the head of China's quality inspection agency, according to the newspaper.
The 80 per cent of licensed companies now compares with 2003 when less than 25 per cent of the nation's more than 60,000 food processing firms in the country had the licence, according to the latest government figures available.
A four-month food safety campaign, launched in late August in response to a spate of safety scandals worldwide involving Chinese-made products, aims to have 100 per cent of food producers licensed, the China Daily said.
"Although the goals are difficult to achieve, we'll do our utmost to ensure a successful campaign," said Li Changjiang, the head of China's quality inspection agency, according to the newspaper.
The 80 per cent of licensed companies now compares with 2003 when less than 25 per cent of the nation's more than 60,000 food processing firms in the country had the licence, according to the latest government figures available.