(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-16 19:12

Yet, the Chinese government stepped up its efforts since then, to address the issue amid far-flung concern over China's food safety home and abroad. 

China's first-ever 39-page white paper published recently sets forth a series of achievements along with planned measures to improve food quality, from establishing a national food recall system to increasing exchanges with quality officials from other countries.

Vice Premier Wu Yi's panel, meant to address the country's problems in food safety and product quality, partly dispelled people's concerns over a loose supervision on food safety due to too many regulators.

Analysts believed that the newly established panel led by Wu Yi would improve the efficiency of supervision.

The government also started a four-month nationwide campaign to improve the quality of goods and food safety. Vice Premier Wu Yi described the campaign as a "special battle" to ensure public health and interests and uphold the reputation of Chinese products.

The campaign will target farm produce, processed food, the catering sector, drugs, pork, imported and exported goods and products closely linked to human safety and health.

Luo Yunbo, dean of the food science and nutritional engineering school of China Agricultural University, said the white paper offers authoritative information on food safety in China, and the latest moves underscored the government's determination to improve product quality after a spate of safety accidents.

The paper also said the proportion of Chinese food products that passed quality inspections had risen steadily in recent years, up from 77.9 percent last year to current figure of 85.1 percent.

As for small food processors, which are believed to be a major food safety threat in China, the paper said the country would make small-scale producers to unite into large ones while keeping a  closer eye on safety accidents.

Almost 80 percent of China's food producers are small workshops employing fewer than 10 workers, however, they produced less than 10 percent of the goods on the market, according to the paper.

By the end of June, the government has weeded out 5,631 unqualified small producers, forced 8,814 producers to stop production, and asked 5,385 companies to improve their production, the paper said.

The number of small food producers would drop by 50 percent by 2010, said the quality supervision administration after the country published its first-ever five-year plan on food safety in  May, and the government wants to ensure that by 2012 no uncertified producers remain.  

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