Harsher, more meticulous food safety law upheld

Chinese lawmakers Thursday hailed harsher punishment for offenders in the Food Safety Law's latest draft revision but the provisions to be more meticulous.

At a panel discussion on the bill, most members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) agreed that the draft amendment has targeted the biggest safety loopholes and harsher penalties are necessary to deter offenders.

"The bill has a well-established framework and adopts correct principles. It responds to the general public's expectation to get tough on food safety crimes," said Cai Fang, member of the NPC Standing Committee and research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The bill was tabled for its first reading on Monday at the top legislature's ongoing bi-monthly session. It pledges to impose harsher civil, administrative and criminal penalties on offenders and tough punishment for supervisors who neglect their duties.

With a diary firm and frozen food plant in central China's Henan Province, NPC deputy Zhang Haiqing supported the bill.

"By punishing the bad guys, the well behaved ones will no doubt benefit as the reputation of the industry and public confidence will improve," said Zhang, who was invited to observe the session, but he was not content with how the bill defines offenses of different severity.

"The current bill does not have very clear regulations on what kind of offenses should be considered breaking the criminal law. This will leave room for some offenders to talk their way out," he said.

The punishments in the Food Safety Law are administrative, such as fining and revoking certificates. Other lawmakers agreed with Zhang that more detailed regulations are needed to refer serious offenders to the criminal justice system.

Lawmakers also suggested a series of revisions concerning a retroactive food safety monitoring network, which the bill establishes.

Chen Weiwen, member of the NPC Standing Committee, suggested that the law should move further from the production of food to the growth of their ingredients.

For instance, many dietary supplements use ingredients from medical herbs. The species of the herbs and the environment these herbs grow in will greatly influence the quality and safety of dietary supplements, Chen said.

He expects the law to integrate the monitoring networks of processed food and farm produce to realize a real monitoring from field to market.

Currently the major food safety problem in China is malpractice of producers and distributors. Acts like injecting clenbuterol into pork, recycling cooking oil from leftovers in restaurant kitchens, selling pork from sick pigs, making medicine capsules with toxic gelatin and passing rat and fox meat off as mutton and beef have made headline news in China recently.

Several lawmakers expressed concern about chronic disease caused by unhealthy food.

Chen Zhu, former minister of health and now an NPC Standing Committee member, warned that this will be a major risk in the near future with increasing incidence of obesity and diabetes.

He suggested that the legislation be a step ahead and force producers to label the calories and fat content as well as banning some food additives.