New food safety law in China

Raising standards at every level of production

The Chinese government approved in principle on Wednesday [31 Oct 2007] a new food safety law aimed at raising standards at every level of production, a senior official said. The quality of Chinese goods has come under international scrutiny following scandals involving products ranging from toothpaste and pet food to toys and fish. Beijing insists the issue is limited to a few errant companies and is being hyped by foreign media as well as being driven by a protectionist agenda in some countries. But it has also vowed to tighten checks and crack down on illegal behaviour.

The State Council, or cabinet, has now approved the food safety law and it will be passed to the largely rubber-stamp parliament for the final nod, product quality watchdog chief Li Changjiang told World Health Organization

(WHO) head Margaret Chan. "This law totally covers how to standardise our food products' production, processing, sale, and supervision," Li told reporters. "I believe that the promulgation of this law will certainly effectively raise China's food safety situation and guarantee food safety and people's health," he said, but gave no timetable.

Source: http://www.gov.cn

Aporte: Guillermo Figueroa