ASEAN, China to strengthen co-operation in food safety
The Association of South East Asian Nations and China have agreed to alert each other of problems and to fight illegal food trade to clamp down on unsafe products, Malaysian Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said.
By Agencies |
CHINA: The Association of South East Asian Nations and China have agreed to alert each other of problems and to fight illegal food trade to clamp down on unsafe products, Malaysian Health Minister Chua Soi Lek said.
China welcomed Malaysia's stringent checks on food imported from China following a spate of recalls and adverse publicity over China-made products, he told journalists after attending a China-ASEAN ministerial meeting on food safety initiated by Beijing here Monday.
"They don't mind because they are confident that 99 per cent of their products are safe," he said. Malaysia had raised the monitoring of China food imports to the highest level and rejected 18 consignments of largely preserved food between January and August this year.
"This was only a small amount considering we import 700 million USD worth of food from China," said Chua, who was the sole health minister from among the ASEAN countries attending the two-day meeting.
"Malaysia is supportive of this effort to strengthen the safety of food imports and exports because it is very important for trade and social stability," Chua said.
The meeting ended with an eight-point Nanning Declaration to enhance co-operation between ASEAN and China as the two sides gather momentum in their move to form the world's most populous free trade area by 2010. Chua said the two sides agreed to have greater exchanges of information and personnel and strengthen food management and technical expertise.
China welcomed Malaysia's stringent checks on food imported from China following a spate of recalls and adverse publicity over China-made products, he told journalists after attending a China-ASEAN ministerial meeting on food safety initiated by Beijing here Monday.
"They don't mind because they are confident that 99 per cent of their products are safe," he said. Malaysia had raised the monitoring of China food imports to the highest level and rejected 18 consignments of largely preserved food between January and August this year.
"This was only a small amount considering we import 700 million USD worth of food from China," said Chua, who was the sole health minister from among the ASEAN countries attending the two-day meeting.
"Malaysia is supportive of this effort to strengthen the safety of food imports and exports because it is very important for trade and social stability," Chua said.
The meeting ended with an eight-point Nanning Declaration to enhance co-operation between ASEAN and China as the two sides gather momentum in their move to form the world's most populous free trade area by 2010. Chua said the two sides agreed to have greater exchanges of information and personnel and strengthen food management and technical expertise.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
