China issues new regulations to tighten food safety rules
Sunday, 29 July 2007
Zhengzhou, July 28 (PTI): China has issued new regulations that require stronger supervision of food safety and imposition of heavy fines on rogue exporters amid serious global concern on the quality of its products.
The regulation issued yesterday by the State Council is aimed at intensifying the control over producers and distributors dealing with food products.
Under the new regulation, inspection and quarantine authorities as well as commercial and drug supervisors should establish positive and negative records for Chinese food exporters and submit the records to the media regularly.
Local governments at county level and above are mainly responsible for the supervision of food product safety.
Exporters of food products who provide fake quality certificates or evade quality and quarantine inspections will be fined three times the product's value, the new rules say.
China has faced a barrage of international criticism over the state of its food industry in the first six months of the year following a series of scandals.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced at the end of March that pet food imported from China had caused the deaths of cats and dogs.
Later, in May, Chinese toothpaste was found to contain diethylene glycol in Central America and the United States.
The regulation issued yesterday by the State Council is aimed at intensifying the control over producers and distributors dealing with food products.
Under the new regulation, inspection and quarantine authorities as well as commercial and drug supervisors should establish positive and negative records for Chinese food exporters and submit the records to the media regularly.
Local governments at county level and above are mainly responsible for the supervision of food product safety.
Exporters of food products who provide fake quality certificates or evade quality and quarantine inspections will be fined three times the product's value, the new rules say.
China has faced a barrage of international criticism over the state of its food industry in the first six months of the year following a series of scandals.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced at the end of March that pet food imported from China had caused the deaths of cats and dogs.
Later, in May, Chinese toothpaste was found to contain diethylene glycol in Central America and the United States.