Food safety system put in draft law

The new product identification and tracking system, which has been in the spotlight recently over concerns it may raise production costs, has been written into the draft food safety law, a senior quality control official said yesterday.

The system has become part of the draft food safety law and will become a legal obligation for all food companies if it is passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), Pu Changcheng, deputy director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), said at a working conference in Beijing.

"The system, which allocates a unique code to every product, is another major step forward in ensuring quality," he said.