China joins Italy in the discussion about food safety

Last June 13th, at the University Luiss Guido Carli, an important international conference on Food law was held, involving illustrious representatives of the Italian and Chinese political class.

In greater detail, Maurizio Martina (Minister of Agricultural,  Food and Forestry policies), Beatrice Lorenzin (Minister of Health), Elisabetta Belloni (Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), Li Ruiyu (Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Italy), Xie Jianmin (Permanent Representative of the People's Republic of China to FAO), Zhang Jing (Head of delegation of China Food and Drug Administration), Luigi Scordamaglia (The Chairman), and Ettore Francesco Sequi (Ambassador of Italy in the People's Republic of China).

The theme is of utmost importance and deserves to be interpreted as a part of consumer’s protection legislation, food security and counterfeiting; in fact, the one thing that deserves to be examined thoroughly is the recent legislation adopted by the Shanghai administration known as the "Food safety regulation".

The conference highlighted the need to achieve a comprehensive and integrated sustainability in the food sector, meaning the perfect match between the quality of products on the market and safety.

Minister Lorenzin has identified, amongst the mechanisms useful to achieve this goal, soft law, i.e. the conclusion of agreements and trade agreements, as a sign of openness for building tools that can protect the consumer and the food products. To support her claims, the Minister recalled the recent agreement signed between the European Union and China, under which 100 food products were protected, now PGI, 26 of which Italian.

In the agri-food sector, Italian presence has been strong for a very long time. From the words of the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Italy, Li Ruiyu, China, through Food Law, is also aiming at ensuring the value of health, focusing on systems that allow control of aging and nutrition.

Another topic that was discussed during the conference, was that of counterfeiting: in 2016, in China, more then 14,000 food business licenses were revoked, with the confiscation of 163 million RMB.

This has led Shanghai Food and Drug Administration to launch the recent food safety legislation, directly applicable to all food market operators, at every stage of the chain.

First and foremost, a specifically issued licence is required to access a product market, within which the activity (production, supply or distribution) must be limited and parameterized, plus a specific licence for the companies producing agricultural products destined for direct consumption.

The legislation requires the compliance with strict standards at the point of collection and storage of the product, which must take place at certain temperatures and according to specific assembling techniques to avoid any form of pollution and or alteration.

Even at a sales level, the expiry date must be clearly indicated and visible to the consumer and the short-term products must be placed on a separate shelf for recognition.

The way China seems to move, in harmony with Italy and, more generally, with Europe, is that of safety: an uncompromising way that respects European quality certification and is the subject of a secure market, without any attempt at counterfeiting.

It is believed that this path will lead to the largest and ever increasing health protection, which is in fact China’s targeted goal in every respect, including the environmental one, recognised in the Healthy Shanghai 2030 program, after which 80% of the days in Shanghai will be characterized by good, reclaimed and (almost) free of pollution air.

It is still a long way to go, but it’s a step in the right direction.