China announces rules for food safety

BEIJING - A fresh regulation on the safety assessment of foodstuff was released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission on Monday.

Foodstuff specified in the regulation include animals, plants and microorganisms that are not in the country's traditional recipes, and includes components extracted from them.

According to the regulation, if the safety of the licensed foodstuff does not meet science and technology updates or if there is evidence showing the food not to be safe, the commission must assess the safety of the substance for a second time.

If the licensed food material fails to meet safety rules in the re-examination, the commission will revoke the licenses for such foodstuff, it adds.

The regulation also mandates that those to be found providing false documents when applying for licenses of foodstuff will not be eligible to file an application of the same food substance within a year.

Officials with the commission said the new regulation will improve the management of safety assessments.

According to the current food safety law which has been in place since June 1, 2009, the commission is responsible for assessing the safety of foodstuff.

In a move to make the assessment more transparent, the new regulation states that once it starts processing applications, the commission should release details of the foodstuff and solicit opinions from the public.

The regulation is set to come into effect on October 1, replacing the previous one which was released on December 1, 2007.