China threatens life in jail in food safety crackdownTania
Branigan in Beijing
guardian.co.uk,
Monday April 21 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/21/china
Manufacturers who produce sub-standard food could be jailed for life
under a new draft law unveiled by Chinese authorities.
The government has pledged to make product safety a priority, in
response to a string of scares about items ranging from fake baby milk
formula and drugs to toys with dangerous paint and pesticide-tainted
dumplings.
While wrangling persists over responsibility for several cases
involving sub-standard ex****ts, officials know that the global credit
crunch and appreciating yuan make restoring faith in the country's
output particularly im****tant.
The law also covers an ambitious new scheme to identify and track
products ranging from food to cosmetics, to boost domestic consumer
confidence.
The draft legislation, published on a government website, details a
variety of penalties. Producers whose goods are not up to scratch
could be fined, have their incomes confiscated or their production
certificates revoked. In serious cases, they could face between three
years and life imprisonment.
The Ministry of Commerce and State Administration for Industry and
Commerce (AQSIQ) initially said that by the end of June, all products
in nine categories - including food, cosmetics and home appliances -
must carry a code allowing consumers to trace their place and time of
origin. It has now extended the deadline until the end of the year.
But food companies - including Nestle, Mars and Coca-Cola - have
complained that the system will increase production costs while doing
little to improve standards. They argue that it will not catch the
small firms who are most likely to be responsible for faulty products.
The China National Food Association also told the AQSIQ that the
measure would raise production costs - at a time when food prices are
already rocketing in China, helping to drive inflation.
Other countries are taking their own measures to improve the standards
of im****ted Chinese goods. The US Food and Drug Administration
announced last week that it would open an office in China.
Mike Leavitt, the US health secretary, told the Associated Press news
agency: "In the past, the United States and many other countries have
employed a strategy of standing at the border trying to catch things
that aren't safe.
"We're changing our strategy from one of trying to catch unsafe
products to building safety into the products ... Our purpose is not
just inspection, it's building capacity and maintaining relation****ps
between regulators."
The Chinese government has yet to give final approval, but the agency
expects to begin work in May with the office opening formally towards
the end of the year.
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