This year's key food safety priorities announced, three lists to safeguard food safety

Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the "2015 Key Food Safety Work Arrangements", deploying the key food safety work nationwide for 2015. The work arrangements adhere to a problem-oriented approach, focusing on strengthening source governance, reinforcing process supervision, improving laws and regulations, building a unified and authoritative regulatory system, enhancing food safety governance capacity, and effectively safeguarding food safety “from farm to table”.

First, use a “problem list” to highlight regulatory priorities and tackle table contamination. Adhere to the problem-oriented approach of discovering and resolving prominent issues, get a clear picture of the base and investigate risks, closely focus on strengthening regulation in key areas, key bulk foods, and key regions, and severely punish food safety violations and crimes in accordance with the law.

Second, use a “power list” to standardize the legal order and innovate regulatory methods. Accelerate the revision of the Food Safety Law and its implementing regulations, the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law and other laws and regulations, improve a series of rules and regulations including food production and operation licenses, and accelerate the formation of a national food safety standard system that conforms to China's national conditions and international common practices.

Third, use a “responsibility list” to implement main responsibilities and promote social co-governance. Give full play to the coordinating, supervisory and guiding role of food safety committees at all levels, and improve inter-departmental and inter-regional coordination and linkage mechanisms. Strengthen the comprehensive coordination force of food safety regulatory departments, reinforce supervision and assessment, and implement territorial management responsibilities for food safety. Accelerate the completion of the reform of agricultural product and food safety regulatory institutions, establish a working mechanism with the focus shifted downward and support tilted downward, improve the grassroots food safety grid management system and responsibility system, and open up the “last mile”.