Ausveg has welcomed moves by China’s food and drug regulator to step up its regulation and monitoring efforts, but the horticultural body says a series of major food safety lapses remains “worrying”.
Last week food and drug regulator, The China Food and Drug Administration, described food and drug safety in China as "grim" in a statement on its website.
"We must soberly recognise the current foundations of China's food and drug safety are still weak, with new and old risks together creating a grim situation," it said.
The regulator also said China will increase "active" regulation to prevent food and drug safety scares, with more on-site inspections, random tests and unannounced visits.
“We welcome the announcement by China’s food and drug regulator that they are looking into increasing ‘active’ regulation, but it is still worrying to us that these major lapses continue as China is one of Australia’s top vegetable importers,” says Ausveg spokesperson Andrew White.
China is the third largest importer of vegetables to Australia, behind by New Zealand and Italy, according to Ausveg.
Ausveg says clearer Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) laws wouldmake it easier for consumers to identify the origin of the product that they are purchasing.
“If Australian consumers are to gain benefits from a reformed labelling system, claims must be simplified and unambiguous, with consumers able to tell at a glance the source of a product based on its ingredients.”
A Parliamentary Inquiry by the Federal Government to investigate CoOL has recently concluded and examined whether the current system is satisfactory, where improvements can be made, the current levels of compliance, and whether laws are being sidestepped by importers through third party countries.
