The Chinese government has taken six measures in one month to
ensure food security and reliability of Chinese products, said Li
Changjiang, head of General Administration of Quality Supervision,
Inspection and Quarantine, on Monday in Beijing.
The State Council had held a national work meeting on product
quality and food safety, at which Premier Wen Jiabao spoke, the
first such meeting in seven years, said Li.
China's cabinet has promulgated regulations on supervision over
product quality and food safety. It also issued a circular that
stipulated manufacturers should take the primary responsibility for
ensuring product quality and food safety.
On August 17, the cabinet issued a white paper on food safety
with a pledge to prevent the export of substandard food.
The cabinet has established a national leading group headed by
Vice Premier Wu Yi to address product quality and safety
issues.
Late last week, the government started a four-month nationwide
campaign to improve the quality of goods and food safety.
Vice Premier Wu Yi described the campaign as a "special battle"
to ensure public health and interests and uphold the reputation of
Chinese products.
The campaign will target farm produce, processed food, the
catering sector, drugs, pork, imported and exported goods and
products closely linked to human safety and health.
Wu called for an integrated quality monitoring network across
the country, covering product design, raw materials, processing,
sales and services.
Li said Chinese product issues recently raised by the United
States resulted from three factors.
The first factor was that some products China exported to the
United States did have problems in quality, Li said, citing
exported toothpastes containing diethylene glycol and toy exports
with paint containing excessive lead.
The Chinese Government had approved of US companies issuing
product recalls, and it would thoroughly investigate problematic
Chinese firms and penalize them when necessary.
The second factor was that the two countries imposed different
criteria and defined them differently on certain products. To this
end, the two would further exchange views and try to reach
consensus.
The third factor was that some qualified Chinese exports were
claimed as unqualified at certain times and places by inspecting
agencies with unreliable data. In this regard, China was discussing
with the United States feasible measures to solve the problems.
Since March, quality and safety issues of made-in-China products
have been under international spotlight, ranging from pet foods to
drugs, toothpastes, toys, aquatic products and tyres.
(Xinhua News Agency August 27 2007)
