Reuters AlertNet Lite - RPT-Europe presses China on food safety alert network

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Europe presses China on food safety alert network

06 Nov 2007 05:18:23 GMT
Source: Reuters

BEIJING, Nov 6 (Reuters) - The European Union would like a worldwide alert system to warn of food safety problems, a senior EU official said on Tuesday, adding it was still worried about weaknesses in the Chinese surveillance network.

The quality of Chinese products has aroused international concern following a series of scandals involving tainted or substandard goods, including toys, pet food, fish and medicine.

The European Union already has what it calls a Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), which notifies not only member states but other countries of problem goods so they can remove them from the shelves and protect consumers.

This year it had sent officials to Bangkok, Buenos Aires and now Beijing to promote the idea of having such a system, said Jose Luis de Felipe, head of the alert unit.

"The idea behind these seminars is first of all to share our experience, in order to give our experience to other countries in order to implement in their countries a similar system, if they wish," de Felipe told a news conference.

"The long term idea is to create some kind of regional network, like we have in the European Union, in order to create a worldwide RASFF, which can be created and probably managed by the WHO with international institutions," he added, without elaborating.

The Chinese government says it takes food safety seriously and has embarked upon a nationwide crackdown, but admits there is a way to go.

"In China, several government departments are responsible for food safety, and these individual departments will have their individual networks for information exchange and communication," said Li Chaowei, deputy head of the quality watchdog's import and export food safety bureau.

"We need a more integrated information exchange network on the national level to ensure food safety and a rapid response," he said, adding China welcomed international help.

Yet, Europe was also worried about confusion in China's food safety command chain, said Raimondo Serra, agricultural counsellor at the European Commission delegation in Beijing.

"The other element that can sometimes show weaknesses is the number of agencies responsible for food safety in China at different stages of the chain, and this can sometimes create problems," he said.

China needed a more rounded approach to food safety, Serra added.

"The European approach is from the farm to the fork," he said. "Sometimes in China there is much more emphasis on the final product instead of the raw material."

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Last updated:Tue Nov 6 05:22:20 2007