Contradictions

"We have seen standards contradict each other because of the involvement of so many departments," he noted.

At least five regulatory bodies - including those for quality supervision, food and drugs, and industry and commerce - are currently involved in food safety. That's "too many", according to Chen.

In future, only the new body will be responsible for the supervision of food safety, said Yan.

However, given such a long chain from farm to dinner table, "one single department can barely manage the control of food safety alone, let alone the other tasks," he said.

Yan suggested that two or three departments should supervise the whole food safety process, which would be in line with international norms.

Supervision of plant cultivation, the raising of poultry and the breeding of livestock should remain with the Ministry of Agriculture, he said, while the Ministry of Health is entitled to set the standards for food safety.

He also stressed, "enforcement requires expertise from a strong technical support team".

In addition to the redefinition of the administrative function, other factors such as the quality of personnel, particularly in the technical support teams, should be taken into consideration.

Chen Xiaohong indicated that a national food safety standards center would be soon established. "Only by the use of clearly defined standards can law enforcement workers do their job correctly and efficiently," he said.

The center will be responsible for setting and overseeing food safety standards, which will be unique and mandatory, he noted.

According to Yan Weixing, the new center will be based on the existing China Food Safety Risk Assessment Center. "Optimizing the existing units will help to avoid a waste of time and funds," he explained.

The scale of the job is huge and complex, so staff numbers at the center will be boosted to 400 from the current 200, he added.

At present, China has more than 5,000 standards on food quality and hygiene, formulated by a number of different departments, according to the Ministry of Health

However, the standards for farm produce are even more complex, said Yan.

"The question of which department, health or agriculture, will be in charge of that remains unclear," he said.

shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn

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