With 154 articles, compared with 104 in the original law, the revamped Food Safety Law adds new articles and provisions on baby formula and online shopping.
Chinese people have been shocked by many food safety scandals in recent years, including injecting clenbuterol into pork, recycled cooking
oil Wes Schweitzer Jersey , selling pork from sick pigs, medicines made with toxic gelatin and passing off rat and fox meat as fit for human
consumption.
The revised law gives heavier punishment to offenders, increasing the cost for violating the legislation, said Huang Wei with the Commisison for
Legislative Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee.
The new law will go into effect on Oct. 1.
STIFFER PENALTIES
The revised law brings harsher civil, administrative and criminal penalties for offenders and their supervisors.
The amendment introduces administrative detention for offenders. Those who add inedible substances to food could find themselves behind bars for up to 15
days. Administrative detention normally refers to that imposed by police without
court proceedings. This has been considered tough as other punishments
stipulated in the Food Safety Law generally involves fines and revocation of
certificates.
Buyers also get better protection. Consumers can demand reparation of three times any loss they suffer from substandard food. Previously, only compensation
of 10 times the price of the food was allowed. Substandard food can be very
cheap and can cause very serious problems with consequential losses Dontari Poe Jersey , hence the new rule guarantees that consumers can get higher compensation.
Bigger fines for offenders are also on the menu. Producers may face fines of up to 30 times the value of their products, up from 10 times. If the products
are worth less than 10,000 yuan (1,630 U.S. dollars), the fined can be up to
150,000 yuan Tevin Coleman Jersey , three times the previous amount.
The amendment adds provisions for landlords of production sites who turn a blind eye to illegal activities on the premises, and suppliers who sell unlawful
substances to producers, knowing that they will be added to foods. Their revenue
can be seized and they can be fined up to 200,000 yuan.
Administrative penalties, such as demotion and dismissal, will be imposed on officials with food and drug regulators who fail in their duty to protect the
public or connive in cover-ups. Similar punishments will be dished out to
officials in health and agriculture departments. Abuse of power and neglect of
duty for personal gain may precipitate criminal penalties.
BABY FORMULA
Infant milk formula will be heavily regulated to restore public confidence in the domestic dairy industry.
Producers will be required to register powdered baby milk formula with the food and drug regulator. Earlier provisions stipulated that firms only needed to
ensure their formulas were on record.
There are more than 1 Keanu Neal Jersey ,900 varieties of baby formula available in China. Each company has around 20 varieties. In other countries, firms produce and sell only
two or three.
"Some producers are creating new formulas purely for the sake of marketing," according to the Food and Drug Administration.
In 2008, infant formula produced by the Sanlu Group, a leading dairy firm in north China, was found to contain melamine. Six babies died and thousands fell
ill. As a result Sean Harlow Jersey , the first Food Safety Law was enacted in 2009 but public confidence in domestic baby formula has not recovered. Instead, consumers
have demanded baby formula from countries like Australia, New Zealand and
Germany, which now have strict export quotas for China.
Producers will now have to test every batch of their product, conduct regular internal inspections and submit reports to regulators.
ONLINE SHOPPING
Online shopping has become part of daily life in China. Food producers are expanding their business to instant messaging services like WeChat.
China's online retail sales totaled 1.85 trillion yuan in 2013, with food eating up 32.4 billion Duke Riley Jersey , and problems concerning food safety have emerged. To keep up, the amendment adds new articles on online shopping, clarifying the
liabilities of shopping platforms. They are required to register the real
identity of vendors and check their certificates. The platforms will have to
compensate consumers if they cannot provide the identity, address and contact
details of retailers.
They should also report malpractice to the government and deny access to delinquent retailers.
EDINBURGH, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Scotland's economy grew by 2.7 percent in 2014 year-on-year, Scottish Chief Statistician announced on Wednesday. For the
the fourth quarter from October to December of 2014 Takkarist McKinley Jersey , the Scottish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.6 percent compared with the third quarter. On an annual basis, the GDP grew by
2.8 percent compared to the same period of 2013.
The services sector, which accounts for nearly three quarters of the economy, remained at the same level (grew by 0 percent) during the latest period, the
production sector grew by 1 percent, and construction output expanded by 6.1
percent Austin Hooper Falcons Jersey , on the previous quarter.
Scottish Deputy First Minister John Swinney hailed the annual GDP growth of 2.7 percent across 2014 as "the fastest since 2006," adding that "the Scottish
economy is now 2.3 percent above the pre-recession peak."
He stressed that the economy growth in the latest quarter was driven by construction in particular with a 6.1 percent increase over the quarter.
"During 2014, the construction sector expanded by 13 percent and the sector is also now performing above pre-recession levels," he noted.
There was also encouraging growth in the product ?
