FDA officials met recently with their Chinese counterparts to educate them on new regulations being drawn up under the US Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Chinese officials also updated the US side on new rules in China that take aim at the country's notorious food-safety problems.
“This visit really comes at a very critical point with respect to the FSMA,” Stephen Ostroff, until recently the acting FDA commissioner, said at a news conference in Beijing.
Noting much of the responsibility is going to be on importers to make sure foods meet U.S. standards, Ostroff said officials on the Chinese side understand they also must clean up their act. “In China we have a very good collaborative working relationship with our partners in food safety. We have every reason to believe they are just as serious as we are,” Ostroff said, noting that China has improved and continues to build up its food-safety systems.
China's national legislature passed a major food-safety law last year, which took effect Oct. 1. It strengthened provisions on manufacturing, storage, distribution and food materials, established a tracing system and increased punishments for violations, among other things.