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China pledges to prevent substandard food exports:white paper (2) |
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12:10, August 18, 2007 |
Li Changjiang, head of China''s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said the recent food safety issues had no effect on exports.
He said Chinese agricultural products exported to the United States were up 28.7 percent in first half of this year over the same period in 2006, and that to the EU increased by 23.6 percent.
A complete supervision system over exported goods had been established, Li said.
In order to control the risks of animal epidemics, plant diseases and pesticides and veterinary medicine residues, the government had adopt a record management system for food material bases.
The white paper pointed out 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 a hygiene registration before engaging in the production of food for export.
As regards large companies producing or processing high-risk export food 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.
Professor Luo said food safety was a global issue, but China''s food safety issues were exaggerated maliciously in the hope of setting up trade barriers.
Gao Hucheng, Vice Commerce Minister, said sensationalized reports were de facto trade protectionism.
The white paper stressed that China was willing to work with other countries on the international food trade.
Source: Xinhua
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