Chinese Congress Contemplates Tightening Up Food Safety Regulations

By Sam Lewis

In Beijing on Monday, June 23 Chinese officials were briefed by the head of China’s food and drug administration regarding outline amendments that will strengthen the country’s food safety laws

At the bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Zhang Yong, head of China’s food and drug administration, told Chinese officials that the country’s food safety is getting better, but “the situation remains severe.” Furthering that notion, Yong says the current system of food safety regulation is ineffective, and fines and penalties are not stiff enough to discourage lawbreakers.

China’s substandard food practices, such as injecting clenbuterol into pork, substituting rat meat as beef, and recycling cooking oil in restaurant kitchens, have been revealed in headlines across the globe. There are also reports of illegal supplements that have been used to boost bean crop yields. Of course, there was the recall of donkey meat sold in Walmart China stores in January that was found to have fox DNA. And who can forget the infamous infant formula contaminated with melamine scandal? All of these extensively broadcasted incidents have led to the proposed bill. The new proposal even has a special stipulation that would force infant formula producers to test every batch made, perform routine internal inspections, and give regulating bodies reports on findings.

Zhang’s plan is adjust the country’s current food safety laws to ensure wrongdoers face more severe civil, administrative, and criminal penalties. Under the new proposal, Chinese consumers would be able to collect three times the price of any financial loss suffered due to food-related issues. Currently, China’s consumers are able to reap 10 times the price of any contaminated or fraudulent food. On the processing and manufacturing end, fines for substandard products would rise from 10 times the value of the product to 30 times its value.

Tips For Complying With New Food Safety Regulations

The Chinese government’s regulators could also receive severe punishments for violating these more rigid regulations. Should a government official fail to respond to a food safety emergency, that person faces demotion or even dismissal from duties. Officials who are witnessed exploiting power, disregarding duties for personal gains, or are involved with cover-ups of food safety violations will face criminal consequences.