Export Data News
- Nation vows to prevent substandard food exports
Date: 20-Aug-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
THE government issued a white paper on food safety Friday with a pledge to prevent the export of substandard food.
The 29-page white paper, the first of its kind, released by the information office of the State Council provides a brief introduction of food production and quality, the food supervision system, imports and exports, as well as international exchanges and cooperation on food safety.
'The issuing of the white paper is right on time,'said Luo Yunbo, dean of food science and nutriology engineering school of China's Agricultural University.
Professor Luo said that China's exported food safety could be guaranteed, as the authorities operated the strictest quarantine standard over exported food.
According to the white paper, the acceptance rate of Chinese foodstuffs exported to the EU stood at 99.8 percent in the first half, followed by those exported to the United States, with the acceptance rate of 99.1 percent.
A report from Japan shows that Japan conducted more sample surveys on Chinese food (15.7 percent) than on food from anywhere else, but Chinese food had the highest acceptance rate (99.42 percent), followed by that imported from the EU (99.38 percent) and the United States.
The white paper said food must be quarantined before export. If it is demanded by the importing country, the quarantine authorities should issue a hygiene certificate, and enter on the certificate the name, address, hygiene registration number of the producing enterprise, date of production, date of export, loading port and destination port.
All enterprises must be granted hygiene registration before engaging in the production of food for export.
As regards large companies producing or processing high-risk export foods such as meat, the entry-exit inspection and quarantine authorities would send resident officials to supervise when needed. The packaging of export food should be labeled with traceable signs according to requirements, so as to ensure the traceability of the products and recall of substandard products.
Companies that severely violated regulations or avoided quarantine inspections would face fines and entry on an Internet blacklist. So far, 55 enterprises have been included on the List of Unlawful Enterprises.
The white paper admitted a few Chinese companies avoided quarantine inspections by means of fraud, and exported their goods through illegal channels, which resulted in fake, inferior, or adulterated food going abroad.
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