Food safety in China is a widespread concern for the country's agricultural industry and consumers. China's principal crops are rice, corn, wheat, soybeans, and cotton in addition to apples and other fruits and vegetables.USDA China - Key Statistics China - Key Statistics 2005 China's principal livestock products include pork, beef, dairy, and eggs. The Chinese government oversees agricultural production as well as the manufacture of food packaging, containers, chemical additives, drug production, and business regulation. In recent years, the Chinese government attempted to consolidate food safety regulation with the creation of the State Food and Drug Administration of China in 2003; officials have also been under increasing public and international pressure to solve food safety problems. Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said, "Food is essential, and safety should be a top priority. Food safety is closely related to people's lives and health and economic development and social harmony," at a State Council meeting in Beijing.
Overview Food safety has been a concern for many decades in China. The majority of food problems lies within poisonous foods deliberately contaminated by producers for higher profits. The most common types poisonous foods in China include: adulteration, additives, pesticides, and fake foods. These poisonous food production techniques allowed producers to either increase production, increase mass of produce, lower market prices, and increase shelf-life. Poisonous food production was very well-organized and largely scaled, involving government agencies participating in such malpractice.
The growing unrest over food safety in China reached a climax in early 2007, shortly after circulation to the State Council of an Asian Development Bank policy note based on a technical assistance project in collaboration with the State Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization. The note and a subsequent report applauded increased efforts by the Chinese government but noted remaining gaps, calling in particular for urgent reforms to strengthen and streamline inter-agency coordination and enact an overarching "basic food law". The State Food and Drug Administration of China also published a survey in early 2007 where 65% of the respondents expressed concern about food safety. Shortly afterwards, Lu Jianzhong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and China's Vice Premier, Wu Yi, issued statements of apology and promised to create a food safety monitoring system.China Digital Times Apologies for food safety in china
China's food regulations are complex, its monitoring system can be unresponsive, and the government departments that oversee and enforce policies have overlapping and often ambiguous duties. There are around ten national government departments that share the responsibility to ensure food safety. There are also numerous provincial and local agencies that monitor local food production and sales. The food and drug laws themselves have been created "in an ad hoc way without the benefit of a basic food law," as Henk Bekedam of the World Health Organization told the Wall Street Journal (9 April 2007, B1).Zamiska, Nicholas. "Who's Monitoring Chinese Food Exports?" Wall Street Journal. April 9, 2007. Pg. B1. The last major revision of the food and drug laws was made in 1995China Laws and Regulations of Food, Drug, and Cosmetics. "Food Hygiene Law of the People's Republic of China." when the Food Hygiene Law of the People's Republic of China established general food safety principles. Both the State Council and the departments under the State Council can issue regulations and directives concerning food.China Laws and Regulations of Food, Drug, and Cosmetics. "Regulations and Directives on Food"
Changes in China's food production system are generating an awareness of food safety problems. China's agricultural system is composed mostly of small land-holding farmersFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. "East Asia" and subsistence agriculture. China, however, has less arable land than other nations and farmers intensively use fertilizer and pesticides to maintain high food production.Gale, Fred. "China at a Glance: A Statistical Overview of China's Food and Agriculture." April 2002. Agricultural Information Bulletin No. AIB775 Food is sold in both open air markets and urban supermarkets, and by the late 1990s, China's farms were adapting to more specialized crop production as the local markets become more connected to the national and international markets. However, local authorities largely control food regulation enforcementGale, Fred. "Regions in China: One Market or Many?." April 2002. Agricultural Information Bulletin No. AIB775 unless the central government steps in. As urban consumers' incomes increase, the demand for quality food goods, safer production, and processed foods also increases, and urban residents and supermarkets attract more national and media attention to food problems.Gale, Fred. "Chinese Household Food Spending and Income." January, 2007. Economic Research Report ERR-32
On July 10, 2007, Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of State Food And Drug Administration, was executed by lethal injection for taking bribes from various firms in exchange for state licenses related to product safety. A 2023 survey by Insight China found that only a quarter of respondents in China were satisfied with the country's food safety standards.
Government departments
Approximately ten government departments and ministries under the State Council monitor food safety in China.Tam, Waikeung and Dali Yang, “Food Safety and the Development of Regulatory Institutions in China,” Asian Perspective, vol. 29, no. 4 (2005), 5-36. Wei, Liu. "Safe Food For All Should Be the Recipe." March 15, 2007. These include the Ministry of Health, the State Food and Drug Administration, and the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety.
No single agency is responsible for all food safety regulations and enforcement in China, and the departments' duties often overlap. There are also local and regional food safety agencies, but there is no clear hierarchy of agencies at the local or national levels. In response to complexity of numerous agencies monitoring and regulating food safety, the National People's Congress established the State Food and Drug Administration in 2003. The State Food and Drug Administration was supposed to oversee the all aspects of food safety regulations and unify food safety controls. However, the State Food and Drug Administration has not become the main governing department as the government had intended, and the other national agencies have continued to regulate and monitor food safety. This unclear division of duties has created conflict and confusion when citizens have sought to complain or when a major crisis needed to be resolved.
The National People's Congress (NPC)"Highlights of NPC Standing Committee's Work Report" National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China. March 11, 2007. is primarily responsible for implementing food safety laws. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the State Council also regulate food safety issues. The Food Hygiene Law of 1995, passed by the NPC, amended the 1982 Food Hygiene Law and regulates most aspects of food safety.Yongmin, Bian. "The Challenges for Food Safety in China: Current legislation is unable to protect consumers from the consequences of unscrupulous food production." French Centre for Research on Contemporary China. May–June, 2004.
Ministry of Health Established in 1949, the Ministry of Health English webpage encompasses general health policies, health law enforcement, children's and seniors' health policies, and diseases and emergencies. It provides experts to investigate poisoning cases, enforces food safety and hygiene inspections, and can order local health departments to conduct investigations into food quality violations. The Ministry of Health also oversees the Institute of Food Safety Control and Inspection, an agency that has studied and identified unsafe foods and has helped local health authorities form policies and training programs to combat unsafe food production and handling practices. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health has called the Ministry of Health "the most important governing body of food safety.""Fast Track to China." Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. February 2, 2007.
State Food and Drug Administration The State Food and Drug Administration of China (SFDA) was founded in 2003 as part of China's efforts to improve food safety."Fast Track to China." Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. February 2, 2007. Yang, Dali. Regulatory Learning and Its Discontents in China: Promise and Tragedy at the State Food and Drug Administration. The SFDA is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the other health, food, and drug agencies. It is "directly under the State Council, which is in charge of comprehensive supervision on the safety management of food, health food and cosmetics and is the competent authority of drug regulation." The SFDA encompasses ten departments that regulate and oversee different aspects of food and drug law. These include the General Office Department of Planning and Finance, the Department of Policy and Regulations, the Department of Food Safety Coordination, the Department of Food Safety Supervision, the Department of Drug Registration, the Department of Medical Devices, the Department of Drug Safety and Inspection, the Department of Drug Market Compliance, the Department of Personnel and Education, and the Department of International Cooperation.
Ministry of Agriculture The Ministry of Agriculture handles farm-level food safety regulations and policies.Ministry of Agriculture. Chinese language page. Ministry of Agriculture One of its most important duties is to regulate and enforce the use of chemicals, pollutants, and pesticides on farms.Calvin, Linda, Fred Gale, Dinghuan Hu, and Bryan Lohmar. "Food Safety Improvements Underway in China." Amber Waves. USDA. 2006. Amber Waves, USDA The Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals (CAMA) is responsible for pesticide testing, research, and use regulations, and operates under the Ministry of Agriculture.China Pesticide Information Network. Institute for the Control of Agrochemicals. CAMA The Ministry of Agriculture is also responsible for animal health, and has handled the bird flu (avian influenza) outbreaks and"WHO Slams Chinese Ministry of Health for Not Sharing Bird Flu Info, Viruses." The Canadian Press. November 1, 2006. Canadian Press the mad cow disease prevention measures."China Free of Mad Cow Disease, Ministry of Agriculture." People's Daily. June 18, 2002. People's Daily The Ministry of Agriculture works with local governments, operates disease research laboratories, and administers vaccinations and emergency response measures.Youling, Jia. Speech. November 10, 2006. Speech
Ministry of Commerce The Ministry of Commerce handles the regulations governing food trade, foreign investments, food distribution, and domestic and international market activities.Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.
General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine