Xiamen to be first city to try China’s new product traceability system
(chinadaily.com.cn), Updated: 2016-12-21
Xiamen in Fujian province is set to be one of the first regions in China to launch a product traceability system designed to tackle the country's ongoing issues with food safety and product quality.
China put in place a series of policies from the beginning of this year to expedite the construction of a traceability system for staple products, which will make it much easier to crack down on any producers or distributors using unsafe or misleading practices.
The system will be used to monitor the supply chains for a wide range of products, including food, medicine, and agricultural products and capital goods in the agricultural sector.
The finance and commerce ministries determined in July that four regions in China, Xiamen city and the provincial areas of Shandong, Shanghai and Ningxia, will be the first areas to pilot the system, which is envisioned as a digital link that covers production, distribution and consumption to monitor product quality risks.
The central government allotted a total of 700 million yuan ($101 billion) to fund the pilot project. The funding for each of the three provincial areas will be 200 million yuan, while Xiamen city will receive 100 million yuan.
It is expected that the central government's funding will inspire more investment in the project's construction.
The Xiamen municipal government issued a work plan in late October for the building of the traceability system. It specifies that the city will consider edible agricultural products, food, medicine, capital goods in the agricultural sector, and special equipment and hazardous articles as staple products.
According to the plan, Xiamen aims to draft a directory of staple products for the traceability system, as well as a plan setting out the project's specific goals, tasks and measures by the end of year.
The city also expects to complete the construction of a comprehensive, trans-departmental platform by the end of 2020. The platform will offer one-stop inquiry service to government departments and the general public.
Xiamen is a beautiful resort city and regional business hub in Southeast China. [Photo provided to China Daily] |