Safeguarding food safety has been made the top priority of
China's industrial and commercial departments, with nearly 5,800
tons of substandard foods recalled in the first half of the
year.
Zhou Bohua, director of the State Administration of Industry and
Commerce, said that fake and low-quality food detected in 34,400
cases involved an aggregate value of 67.7 million yuan (US$8.9
million).
Up to 63,600 entities without business licenses were penalized
in the first half of the year while another 2,207 had their
licenses revoked for failing to meet quality standards.
A total of 3,191 counterfeit hideouts were smashed.
Zhou said staff had stepped up supervision of pork to prevent
adulterated pork, pork from pigs which died of disease or other
kinds of substandard pork from entering markets.
Rural areas and transit routes will be the focus of future
supervision, he said.
In an interview with Xinhua, Li Yuanping, director of the Import
and Export Bureau of the General Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said that China, the world's
major food exporter, has made food safety a top concern.
"We have put in place a monitoring system which covers
plantation, breeding farms and production bases. Only raw materials
that meet standards can be used," he said.
In response to the health scare sparked by substandard food
items ranging from tainted wheat gluten for pet food to catfish
containing antibiotics, Li said that the government has thoroughly
investigated each case.
"All of them are exceptional cases," he said, citing an official
figure that more than 99 percent of China's exports are
up-to-standard.
"There is no such thing as zero risk. In term of food safety,
it's impossible for any country to make 100 percent of their
foodstuff safe," he said. "The country should not be put on trial
because of the problems of a particular company. China-made
products should not be labeled as substandard just because of a few
bad producers."
Lin Wei, deputy director of the bureau said that China would
adopt the severest measures to punish company culprits, including
blacklisting them and imposing an export ban.
(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2007)