Information on the country's imports and exports including
quality and quarantine standards, regulations and policies will be
made available online in March, the authorities said yesterday.
The move to strengthen standards and safety covers more than
4,000 kinds of goods in 14 major categories and sub-categories, the
General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine (AQSIQ) stated on its website.
"As China's economy and trade with other countries develops
rapidly, the amount of imports and exports has also increased
greatly, making it an urgent task for quality inspection
departments to ensure the safety of commodities and to safeguard
the nation's image," the administration said.
"The database aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of
the latest quality inspection and quarantine information worldwide,
including quality and quarantine standards, regulations and
administrative procedures."
To help foreign enterprises and organizations understand China's
quality inspection and quarantine policies and procedures, and
familiarize themselves with the country's import and export goods,
an English version of the database will follow in June.
By the end of next September, the database will include
information on more than 140 types of food products.
"Food safety issues are attracting increasing attention
worldwide," the deputy director of AQSIQ's food production and
supervision department, Wang Hong, said in an online interview
yesterday.
"It is a top concern for consumers and also a challenge the
government must face.
"New technologies and materials have helped modernize food
production but they have also triggered new problems, such as the
safety of new ingredients, additives and packaging."
The State Council approved in principle a draft law on food
safety late last month, as a supplement to the existing Food
Hygiene Law.
The draft law stipulates that imported food and additives must
meet the country's national safety standards.
Meanwhile, food exports should satisfy the requirements set by
importers and pass local entry inspections and quarantine.
At the end of August, China had 448,000 food production and
processing companies, including 26,000 medium- and large-sized
ones.
Following a number of recent investigations, other measures to
improve food safety have been introduced, including upgrading
quality standards and tightening inspections.
(China Daily November 15, 2007)
