China, US agrees on food safety accord
Amid a slew of complaints on the quality of Chinese products, China and the United States have agreed on an initial framework of the memorandum of food safety cooperation.
By PTI |
BEIJING: Amid a slew of complaints on the quality of Chinese products, China and the United States have agreed on an initial framework of the memorandum of food safety cooperation.
The framework covers the safety system on food imports and exports, cooperation on the supervision mechanism and regulation standards, information exchange and the ministerial meetings mechanism, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said.
The countries reached the agreement after the chief of staff for the US Department of Health and Human Services Rich MeKeown discussed with Chinese counterparts on food safety collaboration during his visit here from August 1 to 3.
The two sides will work out a detailed draft based on the initial framework at the next round of vice ministerial meeting, Xinhua news agency reported.
The AQSIQ said the two sides have also agreed on a "close" cooperation arrangement for this year and showed their initiatives to solve the problems of common concern.
It is a common task of the international community to raise product quality and ensure food safety, deputy chief of the AQSIQ, Wei Chuanzhong, said after talks with McKeown.
Wei said China is willing to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with the US and to resolve disputes on product quality and food safety through negotiations and probes.
MeKeown's visit came after the US and China seized unsafe products from each side this year, affecting products worth millions of dollars. The US said the melamine-tainted wheat protein, toothpastes, tires, and seafood from China were unsafe while China seized orange pulp and dried apricots from the US that contain excessive bacteria, mildew and sulphur dioxide.
The framework covers the safety system on food imports and exports, cooperation on the supervision mechanism and regulation standards, information exchange and the ministerial meetings mechanism, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said.
The countries reached the agreement after the chief of staff for the US Department of Health and Human Services Rich MeKeown discussed with Chinese counterparts on food safety collaboration during his visit here from August 1 to 3.
The two sides will work out a detailed draft based on the initial framework at the next round of vice ministerial meeting, Xinhua news agency reported.
The AQSIQ said the two sides have also agreed on a "close" cooperation arrangement for this year and showed their initiatives to solve the problems of common concern.
It is a common task of the international community to raise product quality and ensure food safety, deputy chief of the AQSIQ, Wei Chuanzhong, said after talks with McKeown.
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Wei said China is willing to strengthen cooperation and exchanges with the US and to resolve disputes on product quality and food safety through negotiations and probes.
MeKeown's visit came after the US and China seized unsafe products from each side this year, affecting products worth millions of dollars. The US said the melamine-tainted wheat protein, toothpastes, tires, and seafood from China were unsafe while China seized orange pulp and dried apricots from the US that contain excessive bacteria, mildew and sulphur dioxide.
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