IT Home On October 10, according to CCTV news, the State Administration for Market Regulation has studied and drafted the “Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft Revision for Public Comment)” and has made it available to the public for feedback.
The main contents of the revision include five aspects, as IT Home provides below:
First, strengthen intelligent supervision. Promote the application of “Internet + artificial intelligence” in supervision. It is specified that food production and operation enterprises should install monitoring devices at key risk points during food production and operation, and transmit real-time monitoring video information to the information system of market supervision departments at or above the county level. Supervision departments are given authority for non-site inspections such as IoT monitoring and video patrols.
Second, strengthen the main responsibilities. It is stipulated that food production and operation enterprises and online food trading platform operators should assign food safety directors and safety officers as required, clarify their job responsibilities, and enhance training and assessment; food production enterprises are required to establish a system for recording food production process controls; postal and express delivery enterprises must implement a system for real-name mailing, inspection upon receipt, and machine security checks; the behavior of commissioned production should be regulated, and the qualifications of the commissioning party and the trustee should be clarified.
Third, strengthen supervision in key areas. A special section on “school food safety” will be added, the responsibility system of school principals (kindergartens' directors) will be established, and a centralized dining system for primary and secondary schools and kindergartens will be implemented; a special section on “online food business” will be created, with hierarchical filing management, and the main responsibilities of platforms, live streaming operators, and live streaming marketers will be clarified; cross-border e-commerce enterprises will be specified to bear the main responsibility for the safety of imported foods, food additives, and food-related products in cross-border e-commerce.
Fourth is optimizing the food safety management system. Expand the scope of food safety risk monitoring to food additives and food-related products; include infant feeding aids in special food supervision and implement registration management; standardize food labels and commercial promotions, strictly prohibiting falsehoods and misleadings; enforce strict food inspection management and regulate commissioned testing activities.
Five is to improve the legal responsibility system. Set different penalty levels based on the type of violation; strictly implement “penalties up to individual level” for those who intentionally violate laws, have severe nature of the violation, and cause serious consequences; complete the penalty clauses corresponding to new obligations, increasing the cost of violations; implement a food safety credit management system, and carry out cross-departmental disciplinary actions for dishonesty.
Next, the State Administration for Market Regulation will improve and revise the draft based on the feedback from public consultations, and promote the timely amendment and implementation of the Food Safety Law of the People’s Republic of China. This will provide a solid legal foundation for standardizing food production and business activities, preventing risks, and strengthening regulatory enforcement.