Food Safety Law amended, Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law criticized
Original headline: Deputies propose amending the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law
Ministry of Agriculture proposes amending the law to align it with the Food Safety Law
Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (file photo)
The reporter recently learned from the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress that the Ministry of Agriculture and the State Food and Drug Administration believe that the State Council adjusted the food safety regulatory system in 2013, and the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress amended the Food Safety Law in 2015. The Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law needs to be revised and improved in light of changes in the situation, aligned properly with the Food Safety Law, and used to promptly resolve prominent problems in the field of agricultural product quality and safety.
At the third session of the 12th National People's Congress held in March this year, Yang Hongbo and 30 other deputies submitted a motion proposing an amendment to the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law. The motion stated that the source of food safety regulation lies in agricultural products, that the current Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law does not clearly define the regulatory powers and obligations of agricultural departments in the procurement, storage and transportation of agricultural products, that penalties are insufficient for illegal acts such as failing to establish and keep agricultural product production records as required, and that no corresponding penalties are provided for illegal acts by new types of agricultural production entities producing and selling substandard agricultural products. It proposed amending the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law, clarifying the responsibilities of regulatory departments and increasing penalties.
The Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress agreed with the opinions of the Ministry of Agriculture and the State Food and Drug Administration.