China Instals Food Safety Team to Repair Damage
Date: 27-Jul-07
Country: CHINA
The "leading small group on product quality and food safety" would "coordinate the resolution of major problems" with dangerous goods that have alarmed domestic and international consumers, the People's Daily announced.
China is under growing pressure from abroad over food and product safety scandals, including toxic ingredients used in medicine that killed patients in Panama and toothpaste made using an industrial solvent.
But domestic worry about dangerous medicines, foods, toys and other consumer goods has also been mounting.
The decision to establish the group was made on Wednesday by the State Council, or government cabinet, which also announced provisional rules intended to stifle sub-standard production.
The announcement was part of a welter of propaganda seeking to reassure consumers that the nation's goods are being made safer.
"We must strengthen administration from the source and establish a rigorous network of food inspection and management," the cabinet announced.
"People can rest assured about our country's farm products overall," said the headline of an accompanying story in the People's Daily.
The government revealed earlier this month that 19.1 percent of goods for domestic consumption checked in the first half of this year failed standards. Among smaller manufacturers, the failure rate was 27.1 percent.
In April, the ruling Communist Party's Politburo -- an inner council with some two dozen members -- listened to reports about food safety and President Hu Jintao promised stricter controls on growing and processing.
In China's top-down but ill-coordinated government, rival bureaucracies often battle over who shoulders blame for problems. The leadership often resorts to leading small groups to seek greater unity among departments.
The official reports did not specify which officials would sit on the new group. Often such groups bring together top ministers and Premier Wen Jiabao or one of his vice premiers.