CRI听力:China Beefs up Food Safety Law

The issue of food safety has long been a sensitive area for everyday Chinese people, who have been shocked by a string of food safety scandals in recent years.

They include injecting clenbuterol into pork, recycling cooking oil from restaurant leftovers, selling pork from sick pigs, making medicine capsules with toxic gelatin and passing rat and fox meat off as mutton and beef.

Huang Wei is deputy director with the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee.

She says the revised law gives heavier punishment to offenders, increasing the cost for violating the legislation.

"Illegal production and operation still exist in the current law enforcement process. The entire society strongly demand harsh punishment for such illegal behaviors and increasing the cost for violations. Through the amendment, the food safety law can better crack down on such illegal behaviors."

Touted as the "toughest food safety law," the amendment is considered a move toward achieving the strictest ever supervision system for food safety.

The amendment also introduces administrative detention for offenders.

Those who add inedible substances to food could find themselves behind bars for up to 15 days.

This is widely considered tough in comparison to other punishments such as fines and revocation of certificates.

Bigger fines for offenders are also on the menu. Producers may face fines of up to 30 times the value of their products, up from 10 times under previous regulatory codes.

The revamped law also adds new articles and provisions on baby formula and online shopping.
Huang Wei says the amendment also involves the content of public supervision and regulates the special protection of Informants.

"The amendment specially protects the informants and regulates that companies should not persecute or retaliate against the informants by the means of termination or modification of labor contracts."

Xu Shenjian is a professor of the Law School with China University of Political Science and Law.

He notes that expending public supervision on a larger scale should be a focus in the future legislative work.

"The amendment is relatively lack of the content of precaution. And it covers more contents of supervision from government departments, but not enough from the general public. We need to explore more useful ways in this regard. I think that should be the focus in the future."

The new law will go into effect on Oct. 1, 2015.

This is the first change to the legislation since it took effect in 2009.