The political toll and economic backlash from a history of food safety scandals have influenced an ongoing evolution in China’s food safety management system. A lack of coordination amongst regulators and inconsistencies in the development, interpretation, and enforcement of food safety standards weakened regulatory oversight and created systemic vulnerabilities. Consequently, China’s leaders have been taking steps to increase cohesion in government supervision, unify food safety standards, and toughen penalties for non-compliance. Recent refinements accentuated this shift toward a more vertical, product-oriented structure in China’s food safety management.
The Food Safety Management System in China
Table of Contents
I. Background
i. Command and Control Supervision
ii. Reform and Opening Up
iii. Hygiene Supervision
iv. Step-Specific Ministerial Supervision
II. Food Safety Law
i. Move toward oversight cohesion
a. Food Safety Commission
b. Food Safety Standards Unification
ii. Registration and Licensing
iii. Increased Risk Monitoring
a. Surveillance
b. Inspection and Testing
iv. Food Incident Response System
v. Information Outreach
vi. Tougher Penalties
III. Assessment of Food Safety Law
IV. More Comprehensive Centralization
V. Conclusion
