China to test food security credibility network
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-03-23 16:54

China will kick off a two-year experiment on creating a food security credibility network in April this year in a bid to gain prior experience for spreading the experiment to more areas of the country.

Five cities and three organizations have been selected to participate in the experiment, said Li Hongsheng, head of the Division for Supervision over Food Security with the State Food and Drugs Administration.

Li is specially in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong province, to attend an on-going national work meeting on food security.

The participating cities and organizations are required to work out and submit their own action plans, said Li.

The five cities are Liaoyuan city of northeastern Jilin province, Daqing city of northernmost Heilongjiang province, Xiamen city of eastern Fujian province, Changde city of central Hunan province and Yinchuan city of northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. The three organizations are the China Cereals Association, China Meat Association and China Children's Food Association.

According to Li on Tuesday, the State Food and Drug Administration is considering drafting details regarding the experiment so that it will be successful, such as ensuring in places where the experiment is carried out, the supervision is effective, and enterprises, fully aware of food security rules, only produce or process safe food for consumers.

As time goes on, food security has become a problem that cannot be ignored in China. The Chinese Ministry of Health said that poisoning killed 20 people and sickened 462 others on the Chinese mainland in February alone.

Close