Food safety in China
China's principal crops are rice, corn, wheat, soybeans, and cotton in addition to apples and other fruits and vegetables.
Food safety is closely related to people's lives and health and economic development and social harmony," at a State Council meeting in Beijing.
Poisonous food production was very well-organized and largely scaled, involving government agencies participating in such malpractice.
[4] The growing unrest over food safety in China reached a climax in early 2007, shortly after circulation to the State Council of an Asian Development Bank policy note based on a technical assistance project in collaboration with the State Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.
Shortly afterwards, Lu Jianzhong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and China's Vice Premier, Wu Yi, issued statements of apology and promised to create a food safety monitoring system.
[5] China's food regulations are complex, its monitoring system can be unresponsive, and the government departments that oversee and enforce policies have overlapping and often ambiguous duties.
China, however, has less arable land than other nations and farmers intensively use fertilizer and pesticides to maintain high food production.
[14] Approximately ten government departments and ministries under the State Council monitor food safety in China.
No single agency is responsible for all food safety regulations and enforcement in China, and the departments' duties often overlap.
This unclear division of duties has created conflict and confusion when citizens have sought to complain or when a major crisis needed to be resolved.
The National People's Congress (NPC)[17] is primarily responsible for implementing food safety laws.
The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the State Council also regulate food safety issues.
[26][27] The Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals (CAMA) is responsible for pesticide testing, research, and use regulations, and operates under the Ministry of Agriculture.
[28] The Ministry of Agriculture is also responsible for animal health, and has handled the bird flu (avian influenza) outbreaks and[29] the mad cow disease prevention measures.
[30] The Ministry of Agriculture works with local governments, operates disease research laboratories, and administers vaccinations and emergency response measures.
These objectives have been established for the purposes of improving nutritional status, preventing food borne diseases, and strengthening the physical fitness of the people.
In addition, the Institute gives advice on the nutrition and food hygiene projects of the health units at the provincial level.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the institute was affiliated with the following leading bodies under the title of the Department of Nutrition or the Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene: In October 2007, China approved new legislation aimed at improving and monitoring national standards in food production.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine drafted the new regulations covering the production, processing and sale of food.
The first incident occurred 3 decades ago in Shanghai where consumption of raw clam lead to a Hepatitis A outbreak.
