? ?
BIZCHINA / Center
Toxin-free farm produce promised
By Li Fangchao (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-09-04 15:41
The government will clamp down on the use of illegal or excessive
chemicals in agricultural products in the latest move to restore
confidence in food and product safety.
"The overall quality of the agri-products in the country will be
ensured," Sun Zhengcai, minister of agriculture, said. "Consumers can be
at ease when eating them."
The average acceptance rate regarding pesticide residues in vegetables
was 93.6 percent in the first half of 2007; those regarding clenbuterol
hydrochloride contamination and sulfa drug residues in livestock products
was 98.8 percent and 99.0 percent respectively, Sun said in a statement
posted on the ministry's website.
Related readings:
?Food safety in rural areas to be scrutinized
?China to launch nationwide checkup on food safety
?City tightens food safety system
?US, China tackle food safety issues
He added that more than 99 percent of Chinese food exports to the United
States, the European Union and Japan met quality standards over the last
four years.
The recent results showed that "the ratio of agricultural products
passing inspections is the highest in history", Sun was quoted as saying
by the People's Daily yesterday.
He said close attention has been paid to establishing a food safety
supervisory process "from farmland, to market and to the dining table".
Sun also pledged to get tough with the use of toxic pesticides and
addictives to reduce residues in farm produce.
He said the ministry has launched a campaign to put all wholesale
agri-products markets in the large- and medium-sized cities under
surveillance, and to eliminate the use of forbidden veterinary medicines
and foodstuff addictives in major production bases.
In a related development, the General Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine said yesterday that since last
weekend, food exports have not been allowed to leave the country without
a quarantine label.
The compulsory label system is a new measure to strengthen the
supervision of food exports, said the administration.
The move came after the administration introduced a landmark recall
system last week, requiring producers to take back unsafe toys and food.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
Learn Chinese, Chinese Mandarin
No comments:
Post a Comment