China adopts law to strengthen food safety control

by M. Ulric Killion  

According to the website of China Central Government on 1 inst., China’s National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee approved the Food Safety Law on 28 February, which goes into effect on 1 June 2009. Source: March 4, 2009, Embassy of China in the Kingdom of Bahrain website.

For additional information, see “China's legislature enacted a tough new food safety law”, March 4, 2009, Hywin China Blawg; “Five years in the making, the law consolidates hundreds of disparate regulations and standards covering China's 500,000 food processing companies, said Xin Chunying, a vice chairman of the legislative committee of the National People's Congress Standing Committee. The law pays special attention to the issue of food additives that lay at the heart of last year's scandal involving infant formula produced by the Sanlu dairy and other companies. No additives will be allowed unless they can be proven both necessary and safe, according to the law, which goes into effect June 1. ‘The Sanlu scandal exposed a loophole in the system, and that's why the new law is especially strict in this area,’ Xin said.”

See also the full text of the new law: People's Republic of China Food Safety Law, (February 28, 2009 Eleventh National People's Congress Standing Committee adopted by the Seventh Meeting), [ 中华人民共和国食品安全法, （2009年2月28日第十一届全国人民代表大会常务委员会第七次会议通过）].  As Wu Bangguo (Xinhua, March 9, 2009) essentially explained, final revisions to the new law demonstrate an underlining need for a more strengthened oversight and management on food safety. The new “Food Safety Law” addressed this need for strengthened oversight and management by stipulating the establishment of a Food Safety Commission by the State Council [第四条  国务院设立食品安全委员会，其工作职责由国务院规定] to coordinate and guide food safety work.

The general provisions of the People’s Republic of China Food Safety Law [中华人民共和国食品安全法] follow.

Contents

第一章    总则 [Chapter I General Provisions]
第二章    食品安全风险监测和评估 [Chapter II of food safety risk monitoring and assessment]
第三章    食品安全标准 [Chapter III of food safety standards]
第四章    食品生产经营 [Chapter IV of food production and operation]
第五章    食品检验 [Chapter V Food Inspection]
第六章    食品进出口 [Chapter VI Foodstuffs Import & Export]
第七章    食品安全事故处置 [Chapter VII of the disposal of food safety incidents]
第八章    监督管理 [Chapter VIII Supervision and Management]
第九章    法律责任 [Chapter IX Liability]
第十章    附则 [Chapter X Supplementary Provisions].

Copyright © Protected - All Rights Reserved M. Ulric Killion, 2009.