e-magazine
The Hot Zone
China's newly announced air defense identification zone over the East China Sea aims to shore up national security
Current Issue
· Table of Contents
· Editor's Desk
· Previous Issues
· Subscribe to Mag
Subscribe Now >>
Expert's View
World
Nation
Business
Finance
Market Watch
Legal-Ease
North American Report
Forum
Government Documents
Expat's Eye
Health
Science/Technology
Lifestyle
Books
Movies
Backgrounders
Special
Photo Gallery
Blogs
Reader's Service
Learning with
'Beijing Review'
E-mail us
RSS Feeds
PDF Edition
Web-magazine
Reader's Letters
Make Beijing Review your homepage
Hot Links

cheap eyeglasses
Market Avenue
eBeijing

Nation
Print Edition> Nation
UPDATED: March 13, 2009 NO. 11 MAR. 19, 2009
In Food We Trust
China's first Food Safety Law gives people hope to eat safer in the near future
By LI LI
Share

"To avoid these situations, our entire law enforcement process must be transparent and open to supervision by society, media and the public so that we can quickly redress our mistakes in implementing the law," Chen said.

Zheng shared Chen's concern over how to cover supervision gaps in the law. He said his doubt is on how the national food safety commission, an organization of macro control, could quickly spot and fix administration gaps, which often happen on much smaller scale. Zheng said putting the entire food production chain under the monitoring of one or two government agencies is an international trend.

Zheng said the law's drafters should fully consider that China's food-processing industry is dominated by more than 500,000 small plants. He worried myriad backward plants would either go bankrupt due to the extra costs of keeping production records and meeting stricter standards or go underground to evade supervision after the law is implemented.

He suggested the government give subsidies to food enterprises to compensate them for their rising production costs. Otherwise, the inflated food prices caused by cost increases could affect people's living standards and the livelihood of low-income groups. Zheng also said the government should use public service advertisements to educate consumers on selecting reliable foods and alleviating panic in the wake of food safety scandals.

Legislation History of Food Safety Law

March 2007: The National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee listed Food Hygiene Law revision on its annual legislation plan.

End of 2007: A draft revision of the Food Hygiene Law was renamed to the draft Food Safety Law. In December, the NPC Standing Committee conducted its first reading of the legislation.

March 2008: The draft law's full text was publicized to solicit public opinions and in one month received more than 10,000 pieces of advice nationwide.

August 2008: The draft law went back to the NPC Standing Committee for its second reading.

October 2008: The draft law underwent its third reading. Drafters made several changes to the draft resulting from lessons learned during the melamine-tainted formula scandal, such as the abolition of "inspection-free products."

February 2009: The draft law was adopted after its fourth reading.

 

   Previous   1   2   3  



 
Top Story
-Protecting Ocean Rights
-Partners in Defense
-Fighting HIV+'s Stigma
-HIV: Privacy VS. Protection
-Setting the Tone
Most Popular
 
About BEIJINGREVIEW | About beijingreview.com | Rss Feeds | Contact us | Advertising | Subscribe & Service | Make Beijing Review your homepage
Copyright Beijing Review All right reserved