AQSIQ issues notice to ensure safety of food and related products in quake-hit a

AQSIQ issues notice to ensure safety of food and related products in quake-hit areas

AQSIQ issued an emergency notice on tightening quality supervision and law-enforcement to ensure quality and safety of food, related products, and relief materials in quake-hit areas of Sichuan Province on May 13.

Presently, the quake-hit areas are in urgent need of great quantities of food, necessities and various relief materials. In order to fully ensure quality and safety of these supplies, and prevent some unscrupulous people from taking advantage of the disaster to seek illegal benefits, the quality inspection authorities at all levels shall tighten quality supervision and crack down on counterfeits, said the notice.

Measures to be taken are as follows:

--Strengthening food quality supervision to ensure food safety in quake-hit areas

The related administrations of quality and technical supervision shall, 1) carry out effective sampling surveillance on basic food such as rice, flour, edible oil and soy source, and convenient food such as sausage, instant noodles, beverage, bottled water and biscuits; 2) offer necessary help to food processors and workshops which can resume normal production to provide safe food for people in the quake-hit areas.

--Strengthening supervision on product quality to ensure safety of related commodities in quake-hit areas

The local administrations of quality and technical supervision shall intensify supervision on the quality of related products for relief work, and coordinate with related departments to ensure quality and safety of various kinds of relief materials. Tasks in this regard are: 1)strengthening supervision of such emergency materials as clothes, quilts, lighting appliances, temporary buildings and materials for consolidating engineering construction; 2) enhancing check on businesses supplying related products to the quake-hit areas. All efforts are made to ensure quality and safety of the relief materials and supply in time.

--Strengthening law-enforcement and cracking down on illegal operations of manufacturing fake and shoddy products by taking advantage of the disaster

Quality inspection departments at all levels shall crack down on the following illegal operations: producing shoddy products or products containing inferior materials or impurities, palming off counterfeits as genuine ones, passing a defective product off as a high-quality one, or passing a substandard product off as a qualified one; processing sub-standard products made from inferior materials or producing products in disregard of required standards; producing counterfeit or shoddy food with neither a business license nor food-processing permit, and processing food with non-food materials or recycled food.

--Having personnel and equipment ready for performing inspection duties

The quality inspection departments shall:1) provide society with inspection and testing services for free and help the quake-hit areas to restore normal life as soon as possible through adequate technical support; 2) provide inspection and testing report for relief materials in the shortest time possible, and exempt inspection and testing fees for food, major consumer goods and relief materials supplied to quake-hit areas.