Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday pledged to improve food safety and
product quality.
"Food safety and product quality concerns people's health, a
producer's credibility and a country's image. Full attention must
be paid on the issue," Wen told a cabinet meeting.
He called for strengthened supervision on food and product
quality throughout the whole production process and a strict
tracking and recalling system of substandard goods.
Wen called on relevant departments to publicize food and product
quality information to ensure the public is kept well informed.
The meeting agreed to set up a leading group on food safety made
up of cabinet members.
In a related development, the Ministry of Agriculture announced
yesterday to launch a nationwide inspection on forbidden chemicals
and drugs used on farms.
"It will mainly target the fishery and husbandry sectors to
crack down on the illegal use of forbidden pesticides, animal drugs
and chemicals," Zhang Yuxiang, the ministry spokeswoman, told a
news briefing.
The ministry will also adopt other measures to ensure food
safety through establishing pollution-free production bases,
checking chemical application on farms, and strengthening
certification of quality agriculture products, Zhang said.
China has been confronted with food safety problems since last
year, when mandarin fish from Guangdong Province and turbot from
Shandong were found to contain malachite.
Zhang said the country had established a nationwide food product
tracking system from the farmland to the dining table.
The country is also trying to set up a market entry scheme for
food products in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Dalian,
before it expands to other cities in the future, Zhang said.
According to the latest report by the Japanese food watchdog,
99.42 percent of food imported from China was quality, an approval
rate higher than those from the United State and European
Union.
"Japan adopted the strictest fishery inspection rule last year,
and the report shows that Chinese fishery products have passed the
tests," Chen Yide, vice-director of the fishery bureau of the
ministry, said.
(China Daily July 26, 2007)