China will set up a food safety commission to tackle the gaps in its monitoring system, top policymakers revealed yesterday (25 February).
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The commission will co-ordinate the work of at least five other government departments that oversee food safety, said an article on the website of the State Council, China’s cabinet.
The decision was taken during a draft reading of the new food safety law, expected to be voted by the National People’s Congress standing committee this weekend.
Experts have previously cited poor co-ordination as a problem in China’s handling of food safety issues, including last year’s melamine scandal.
“[When] you have five or six different ministries involved in different parts of that chain, then often the communication between them is not perfect,” Jorgen Schlundt, food safety director at WHO told just-food last year.
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By GlobalDataCommenting on the melamine scandal he said: “Communication obviously did not make its way…to the right people, at the right time.”
Chen Xiaohong, vice minister of health, told officials on Tuesday that some food processors are still using banned additives. “The illegal use of additives…in some sectors has still not been effectively halted,” he said, according to the Xinhua news agency.
