China took a big step toward restoring the world’s confidence in the safety of its food products when its new food-safety law took effect on 1 June. The law is designed to replace the country’s disjointed approach to food safety with a streamlined regulatory framework by creating a national food-safety commission and reducing the number of agencies involved. It is also aimed at bolstering accountability by strengthening enforcement of food-safety violations through increased inspections and harsher penalties.
But just how effective is the law? And just how serious is China about improving its questionable food-safety record?
Attendees of this week’s 14th annual China Fisheries & Seafood Exposition in Qingdao are surely asking themselves this question. China’s importance to the global seafood trade is unmatched — its seafood exports topped 2.8 million metric tons last year, far more than any other country.
On Friday, I interviewed Eric Hargan, a partner at the Chicago law firm McDermott Will & Emery. Previously, he held the No. 2 position at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and has spent a lot of time in China. If any former U.S. official understands just how monumental of a task overhauling China’s approach to food safety is, it’s Hargan.
“China is working toward a [food safety] system that’s more stringent, regular, practical and centralized — that’s a big deal,” said Hargan, who, as acting deputy secretary of Health and Human Services from 2005 to 2007, was Secretary Mike Leavitt’s right-hand man.
“China has a very decentralized market,” he explained. “People think of China as a monolithic country, but it’s not at all. China is transitioning from an almost entirely agricultural population to one that is rapidly moving through the industrialization age and into the information age. It’s all taking place at the same time. The United States had the benefit of this transition happening more slowly than China.”
Perhaps just as significant as the new food-safety law is China’s recognition that there’s a problem and its willingness to correct it through better education.
“There was an entire city — Dongguan — that organized all food-manufacturing enterprises to study the new food-safety law,” said Hargan. “That’s thousands of workers organized for one campaign. It’s an effort. [China] acknowledges that there’s a problem, and that’s a huge part of the battle — acknowledging and promulgating [food-safety requirements].”
It’ll take a while for China to fully implement its new food-safety law and rebuild the public’s confidence in its seafood, but it appears the country is headed in the right direction.
