China Improves Quality Control in its Domestic Food Market

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 15, 2003

China Improves Quality Control in its Domestic Food Market

China is improving safety of its domestic food market with the help of a new quality control system.

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China is improving safety of its domestic food market with the help of a new quality control system.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision and Quarantine (GAQSQ) Tuesday issued permits to 1,323 companies for the processing of five kinds of food, including rice, flour, cooking oil, soy sauce and vinegar.

Beginning August 1, 2003, other companies will be forbidden from processing these foods.

The GAQSQ vowed to expand the system to include other foods this year, including meat products, milk products, seasonings, teas and drinks.

In the period leading up to this year's Spring Festival on February 1, domestic consumers can buy the above-mentioned five foods marked "QS"-- the abbreviation for quality safety, as well as the permit codes.

Food safety has become a pressing social problem worldwide, a phenomenon which influenced GAQSQ's decision to monitor and spot test food safety beginning in 2001.

The authorized companies have met high standards and are allowed to display the QS label on their products.

Domestic products improve their quality rating

Chinese domestic products achieved a spot-check quality eligibility rating of 78.4 percent in 2002, about 2.6 percentage points higher than in 2001.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision and Quarantine (GAQSQ) publicized the statistics after spot-checking 9,447 kinds of products from 8,412 companies throughout 2002.

Large companies earned a rating of 90 percent, higher than that of their medium- or small-sized counterparts. Household appliances enjoyed a rating of 80.3 percent, the highest of all categories, while capital goods in the agricultural sector earned a relatively low rating of 71.7 percent.

The same day, the GAQSQ listed a series of products as check-free, meaning that they are exempt from all levels of routine quality supervision for the period specified.

Li Chuanqing, vice director of the GAQSQ, said these products are of reliable quality and their manufacturers employ standards which exceed state and industry standards.

To date, products from 789 companies have been listed as check-free since the system was initiated in August of 2000.

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