Resolutely safeguarding the bottom line of food safety—Interpretation of Opinions on Further Strengthening Full-Chain Regulation of Food Safety

The Central Office of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council recently issued an opinion on further strengthening the full-chain supervision of food safety, deploying multiple policy measures.

Addressing the problems of regulatory coordination in the various links of the entire chain from farm to table, including the planting and breeding of edible agricultural products, food production, storage, transportation, delivery and distribution, sales, consumption, and import, the opinion proposes 8 aspects of collaborative supervision measures and mechanisms that need to be improved and perfected, totaling 21 specific measures.

Strengthening the inspection and quarantine certification and verification of meat products, establishing and implementing a transportation system for unpackaged liquid food, improving the collaborative management mechanism for food safety on campus, strengthening the integrated online and offline supervision of online food ordering... Focusing on food safety issues of public concern, the opinion proposes targeted and innovative measures.

Sun Juanjuan, a researcher at the Collaborative Innovation Center for Food Safety Governance at Renmin University of China, said that the opinion directly addresses the major and difficult problems that have been frequently exposed in current food safety governance, emphasizing the primary responsibility of producers and operators, the local responsibility of local governments, the prevention and control responsibility of regulatory departments, and the main responsibility of industry departments, grasping the key point of full-chain responsibility.

The food industry is diverse and complex, including food processing industries that have fully achieved large-scale modernization, as well as various catering enterprises with extremely low concentration and small and scattered operations, and agricultural product production and processing industries that are highly dependent on weather conditions and are easily affected by climate, soil, and water resources. It is difficult to solve this problem with only one regulatory force, nor can it control risks solely through general product supervision methods such as spot checks and inspections.

Sun Juanjuan said that the opinion clarifies that licensing departments should conduct strict reviews and regulatory departments should conduct supervision. Especially in the face of the division of labor where licensing is managed but inspections are not, the opinion requires the improvement of the connection mechanism on the basis of the division of responsibilities. For problems of difficult regulatory cooperation due to institutional deficiencies, the opinion makes up for the deficiencies.

For example, regarding the transportation of unpackaged liquid food, the opinion proposes to establish and implement a transportation system for unpackaged liquid food and formulate a catalog of key varieties of unpackaged liquid food for which the transportation system will be implemented. For the safety risks of cross-border e-commerce retail imported food, the opinion requires the Ministry of Commerce to work with the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration for Market Regulation to establish a negative list for cross-border e-commerce retail imported food, including food from epidemic areas that are explicitly prohibited from being imported and food for which emergency measures have been initiated due to major quality and safety risks, and to adjust the list in real time.

The opinion emphasizes the indispensable role of environmental protection departments in ensuring the safety of edible agricultural products, requiring them to be responsible for promoting the source tracing and remediation of heavy metal pollution in agricultural land. Education departments should also have a sense of primary responsibility in the governance of food safety on campus, strengthening the overall management and guidance of school food safety-related work.

When emphasizing the food safety responsibility chain around the entire chain, the opinion proposes specific measures to achieve responsibility through capacity building based on institutional arrangements. Focusing on the weak links in the entire chain, it highlights the need for capacity building for food transportation workers and online delivery personnel, and clarifies the empowerment responsibilities to the corresponding regulatory or supervisory departments, such as the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, which should incorporate the mastery of food safety laws and regulations into the national occupational skills standards for online delivery personnel.

Sun Juanjuan said that considering the complexity of the food supply chain and the continuous development of business formats, the key issues, related entities, and corresponding responsibilities mentioned in the opinion can have a demonstration effect. In terms of responsibility awareness, other related entities in the entire chain should also take their seats and attach importance to food safety responsibilities. In terms of capacity building, the opinion mentions the food safety inspector system, requiring strengthening training, assessment, and unified allocation and use to improve professional inspection capabilities and levels.

Su Jing, an expert from the State Council Food Safety Committee, said that the opinion does not avoid hot events that have received strong social media attention, such as proposing to establish and implement a transportation system for unpackaged liquid food and improve the collaborative management mechanism for food safety on campus, and the shadow of food safety incidents can be seen in these proposals. By adhering to a problem-oriented approach, highlighting practicality and effectiveness, and continuously deepening reforms to solve regulatory problems, we can see the determination to resolutely safeguard the bottom line of food safety.