CRI听力：China Considers Law to Ensure Food Safety

China is considering a law to ensure food safety and prevent food-borne diseases amidst increasing safety concerns.

A draft law on food safety was submitted to the country's top legislature, for a first reading on Wednesday.

CRI's Zheng Chenguang has more.

Reporter: Cao Kangtai, director of the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, told the legislative session that food safety incidents occur from time to time.

He said unsafe factors exist in kinds of food, causing the public to lose confidence in domestic foods and damaging the reputation of China-made food around the world.

"A lack of systematic food safety standards and supervision network are to blame. In order to solve this problem from the system perspective and ensure food safety, it is necessary to supplement and perfect the current food hygiene system and formulate a law on food safety."

China currently has a food hygiene law, which took effect in 1995, to regulate issues of food safety, but many lawmakers said it didn't meet the standards in practice.

The Legislative Affairs Office studied food safety laws and regulations of other countries, and collected suggestions from experts on law, health, agriculture, and quarantine. It also called for a seminar of Chinese and U.S. food safety experts in September 2005. Cao Kangtai says the research findings will serve as an important basis for formulating and revising the law.

"Taking the food safety risk assessment as the scientific basis to constitute food safety standards and policies is a result of people's profound understanding of food safety regulation. It has become a common practice of many countries."

The draft, based on the food hygiene law, imposed strict examinations on food imports and exports.

It also called to establish a system to urge food producers and dealers to stop producing and selling unsafe foods, and to recall unsafe food if problems are found.

Zheng Chenguang ,CRI news.