Food safety bill promises tough punishments
Print Edition
A DRAFT revision to China’s Food Safety Law that pledges tough sanctions for offenders and the strictest supervision system had its first reading yesterday.
The current law has helped improve food safety, but the situation remains serious, Zhang Yong, head of the food and drug administration, told lawmakers at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
The existing system is not effective, penalties are comparatively light and it does not deter offenders, Zhang said.
A number of shocking acts of malpractice, including 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 been headline news in China in recent years.
Through the law amendment, the country expects to impose the harshest civil, administrative and criminal penalties on offenders and the toughest punishment on supervisors who neglect their duties, Zhang said.
According to the bill, consumers can demand reparation worth three times the losses they suffer from substandard food. Current law only allows compensation of 10 times the price of the food.
Bigger fines for offenders are also on the menu. Producers will face fines of up to 30 times the value of their products, up from 10 times under the current law. If the products are worth less than 10,000 yuan (US$1,600), those involved can be fined a maximum of 150,000 yuan, up from the current 50,000 yuan.
The bill adds provisions to punish landlords who know illegal activities are being undertaken on their property, and suppliers who sell illegal substances to producers, knowing that they will be added to food. Their illegal income will be seized and they face fines up to 200,000 yuan.
Officials who fail to respond to food safety emergencies and remove loopholes will face demotion or the sack. They will also be held responsible for food safety cover-ups.
One of the most notorious cases in recent years was the melamine in infant formula in 2008. Six babies were killed and thousands fell ill.
The bill includes a specific provision on infant formula powder. Producers will now have to test every batch of their product, conduct regular internal inspections and submit reports to regulators.
National outcry surrounding the incident brought about the first Food Safety Law in 2009 but public confidence in domestic baby formula has never been fully restored.
The bill also responds to booming online shopping by clarifying the liabilities of online platforms. They are required to register the real identity of vendors and check their certificates. They will have to compensate consumers if they cannot provide the identity, address and contact details of their retailers.
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