Jia Youling
Chief Economic Administrator, MOA, P.R.China
Ladies and gentlemen,
China is a country of great production and consumption of agricultural produce. Chinese government has always attached great importance to the quality safety of agricultural produce, and stressed it as an important issue concerned with people’s health, social stability and economic development. Over dozens of years’ efforts, Chinese agricultural produces has almost been able to satisfy the demands of domestic residents for the quantity and quality of food consumption.
I. Situation of Chinese agricultural produces quality safety
(I) Stable increase in quantity. There is an old Chinese saying goes like that “The masses regards food as their heaven”. Food issue is always of vital importance to the national economy and the people’s livelihood. As the most populous country in the world, it is of special importance for China to solve the issue of food supply. Since the establishment of P.R.C, especially over the 20 years implementation of open-up police, Chinese government has adopted a series of policy and measure beneficial to agriculture and rural economic development, great changes has taken place in Chinese agriculture and rural economy, it has succeeded in producing 21% of world grain yield out of 15% world grain sown area, supporting 22% of world population in 10% world area. During the middle and late of 1990s, the gross output of major agricultural produces continues to increase, and with the gross output of six kinds of edible agricultural produces, such as grain, fruits, meat, poultry, and aquatic products, ranked first in the world. The grain output remains stable above 450 billion kilograms on the whole, and per capital grain volume exceeds 360 kilograms. As the development of grain production, other kinds of production, including oilseed, sugar, fruit, vegetable, livestock, and fishery develops rapidly at the same time. The national gross output of oilseed reached in 2001, increased 9 times compared with that in 1949; The output of sugar reached 86.55 million tons, with an increase of 51 times compared that of 1949; the output of fruit reached 66.58 million tons, increased 51 times compared with that in 1949; the vegetable output has reached 483.37 million tons; the gross output of meat has reached 63.34 million tons; the gross output of poultry has reached 23.37 million tons; and the gross output of dairy products has reached 11.23 million tons. The per capital volume of meat, egg, and dairy products has increased from 4.1, 0.7, and 0.4 kilograms in 1949 to 51, 18.8 and 9 kilograms relatively; the gross output of aquatic products has reached 43.82 million tons, which is 79 times compared that of 1949, and per capital aquatic volume has reached 33 kilograms, exceeding the world average level. With consecutive years of the high yield and bumper harvest of Chinese agriculture, the grain and other agricultural products of China has realized a historic transformation from long-term shortage to gross volume balance on the whole, and with a surplus in the abundant year.
(II) Progressive increase of quality. With Chinese government treating the issue of agricultural produces quantity safety, it stressed the issue of agricultural quality safety. Early in 1992, Chinese government made the decision to develop high yield, high quality, and high efficiency agriculture. Over nearly 10 years efforts, our country has accomplished an obvious improvement on agricultural products quality safety.
-- Grain and oil products. High quality rice develops rapidly. According to the Chinese national industrial standards, high quality rate has reached above 25%,; the sown area of high quality special wheat has occupied more than 20% of the overall sown area of wheat; “Double Low ” rape has been sown in the vast area of middle and upper reach of Yangtze River, occupied 45% of the overall area of rape.
--Food Supply products. The categories of vegetable are abundant, meticulous vegetable has realized a whole year supply, and it has been effectively controlled that the problem of the limit exceeding rate of the remains of pesticide and poisonous and detrimental substance in major vegetables. In April, 2002, following the standards of CAC, the Ministry of Agriculture organized related technology inspection organizations to launch sample the quality safety of vegetable products in the production base, the whole market and the farm produce market of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Shouguang City of Shandong Province. The sample quality accreditation of vegetable products has reached 97.7% (The rate of disqualification is only 2.3%). In the market of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, most of the vegetables are come from other cities, the sampling result of the four cities reflects the quality safety situation of the Chinese domestic vegetable products. Lean pork, high quality beef and mutton, special livestock products and famous quality aquatic products have gradually become the daily consumer goods, improved variety table hen and laying hen have almost realized the improved reproduction and specialized production. The quality safety of fresh aquatic products and manufactured products has been improved dramatically.
--Fruit and tea product. The variety of fruits has increased, the ratio of high quality fruit is obviously improved, the rate of high quality exceeds 1/3, the rate of packaging fruit to the market has increased, and the whole year supply of Chinese fruit has virtually been realized. The production of famous quality tea has developed rapidly, which occupies 20% of the gross output of Chinese tea.
II. The situation of the quality safety management of Chinese agricultural products.
(I) Agricultural technology standards have gradually become a system. Up to now, Chinese government has organized and formulated 400 items of national standards of agriculture, 1200 items of industrial standards, 199 items of non-social detrimental effects, and 16 thousand items of regional standards of agriculture, and organized to establish more than 20 national agricultural standardizing technology committee. The range of standards covers from seeds of crops, the development of breeding stock to the cultivation industry, the livestock industry, the fishery industry, the tropics crops, the forage industry, agricultural machinery, rural energy and environment, agricultural high-tech and so on. The content of standards has extended from the original products to key technology and manufacture, package, and transportation, etc. Since 1999, in order to conform to the demand of the new developing period, Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Finance has established the revised item of agricultural professional standards, strengthened to formulate and revise the industrial standards of agriculture, and strive to establish a set of quality standards of agricultural products, which not only suitable to Chinese domestic situation, but also comply with international standards in the minimum time.
(II) The examination system is gradually established.
Since the middle of 1980s, china has initiated to prepare establishing the inspection system for the quality safety of agricultural products. The Ministry of Agriculture of China has planned 179 ministerial quality inspection centers of agricultural products. At the present, there have been 164 ministerial quality inspection centers, which acquired the authorization and national measure qualification. Meanwhile, nearly 50% of provinces (regions and municipal cities) established ministerial quality safety inspection centers of agricultural products, more than 400 counties established the quality safety inspection station, which are mainly rapid inspection ones.
(III) The construction of authentication system initiates. In order to upgrade the quality safety level of Chinese agricultural products, since the early of 1990s, China has begun the construction of the quality authentication system. Currently, the authentication centers of aquatic products, green products, agricultural machinery have been established and put into use. Authorized by the State Council of China, since 1990,the Ministry of Agriculture has initiated to promote and green food and established the green food development center of China shouldering the responsibility to authenticate green food. Until now, nearly 3000 products of 1500 enterprises have acquired the certificate of green food, the annul gross volume of green food has reached 20 million tons, the sales volume has exceeded 50 billion yuan, the export to win foreign exchange has reached nearly 400 million dollar, and the reserved area of green food production base (field, grassland, and aquatic area) has reached 58 million mu.
(IV) To strengthen the law enforcement and supervision. In order to protect the legal right of consumers and farmers, on the basis of formulation of Law of Seed, Law of Fishery, Law of Animal Epidemic Prevention, Regulation of Seed, Livestock and Birds, Regulation of Pesticide, and Regulation of Animal Medicine, Regulation of Forage and Forage Additive, and some other law and regulation, Chinese government strengthens the supervision and inspection to agricultural products, agricultural input, and the environment of producing area. Since 2000, Ministry of Agriculture has begun the fixed track and inspection system of farm produces quality safety nationwide, start the inspection schedule of the remains of pesticide and animal medicine. In 2002, Ministry of Agriculture forbade the use of 18 varieties of pesticide, 29 varieties of animal medicine, 39 varieties of fishery medicine, and restricted the use of 19 varieties of pesticide, 8 varieties of animal medicine, and 5 varieties of fishery medicine.
(V) The implementation of Non-public detrimental effects food operation schedule develops smoothly. In order to improve the quality safety level of Chinese agricultural products comprehensively and to carry out the overall procedure quality control, in the April of 2001, authorized by the State Council of China, the Ministry of Agriculture started Non-public detrimental effects food operation schedule, and made experiments in the following four cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, and Shenzhen, which has obviously achieved success, and promote the work of quality safety of agricultural products in other provinces and cities nationwide.
(VI) The famous brand development strategy of agriculture has been promoted comprehensively. To promote the famous brand strategy is to fully exercise the advantage of natural resources in various regions, to establish the regional leading industry, to optimize the variety, and quality of agricultural products and to improve the quality safety level of agricultural products, and also to create a way for farmers to acquire more income. Since 1992, the Ministry of Agriculture holds agriculture expo once every two years. In the 1997 agricultural expo, 527 brands of agricultural products, and the 2001 expo 1415. The implementation of agricultural brand development strategy strongly promotes the improvement of agricultural products quality safety.
III. To promote the implementation of Non-public detrimental effects food operation schedule and to improve the quality safety level of Chinese agricultural products.
As a project beneficial to the country and people, Non-public detrimental effects food operation schedule is aiming to improve the quality safety of Chinese agricultural products and safeguarded the consumption safety of agricultural products, and wins approval from central government and society. In this July, on the basis of summarizing the experiences of experimenting cities, the Ministry of Agriculture made the decision to promote the implementation of Non-public detrimental effects food operation schedule, and try to realize the production of non-public detrimental food, and guarantee the consumption safety and quality safety to reach the medium level of developed countries within 5 years on the whole.
The quality safety of vegetable, fruit, tea, edible mushroom, livestock and aquatic products reached the national standards. The sampling qualification rate in the whole sale market, farm products market and chain supermarket reached 95%.The quality safety level of exporting agricultural products will be improved to reach the international standards, and to comply with the requirements of the trading country.
(I) To enforce the production supervision
--To enforce the construction of production basis. It has been scheduled to establish a set of non-public detrimental effects agricultural production basis, standard production comprehensive example region and to strengthen the establishment of non-restriction epidemic disease of animal and plant.
--To purify the environment of production region. The supervision of agricultural production will be strengthened. The pollution to agriculture ecological environment of industrial Three Varieties of Waste and urban living garbage will be strictly controlled. It will be an emphasis to treat the pollution of chemical fertilizer, pesticide, and animal medicine, forage additive and other agricultural input to the agricultural ecological environment and agricultural products.
--To restrict the management of agricultural input. According to the national law and regulation, the agricultural input forbidden and restriction announcement system will be established. And also it will be strengthened that the supervision and management of agricultural input market, and take strong measures to against the conducts of manufacture, sale, and usage of poor quality agricultural input.
--To promote the standardized production. The implementation of the technological standards and non-public detrimental effects will be reinforced. Direct the agricultural producer and manager to strictly organize the production and manufacture, to reasonably use fertilizer, pesticide, animal medicine, forage, and forage additive to irrigate, to strengthen the quarantine of animals and plants, and to improve the classification, package, freshness preservation, and the level of industry standardization.
--To improve the level of organization of production and operation. Professional technology association, circulation association, and rural professional cooperation economic organization and the team of brokers should be supported and developed. In the way of multi-industrial operation, we should accelerate the agriculture leading enterprises to direct agricultural producers to adjust the formation and structure of agricultural products, to improve the scale and organization procedure of agricultural produces, and to upgrade the quality safety level of agricultural products.
(II) To promote the system of market entrance permission.
--To establish the supervision system. We should carry out the supervision of the quality safety situation of agricultural products input, and agricultural products regularly or irregularly and to guarantee the quality safety of products to comply with the national standards and norms. Also, we should adhere to and optimize the fixed and tracking supervision system of quality safety of agricultural products, and launch the special inspection and renovation of remains of pesticide and animal medicine.
--To promote the speed survey technology. The technology of speed survey should be promoted in the agricultural production basis, whole sale market, farm produces market in cities nationwide, and to announce the survey result in a proper way, and to guarantee the right to know the facts and supervise of consumers.
--To establish professional sales network. Among the national and provisional agricultural products whole markets and chain supermarkets, we should actively promote the establishment of the professional sales region of the agricultural products of safety high quality authentication.
--To fulfill the management of label. According to the features of different agricultural products, we should actively promote the system of classification package and production area label. As for the agricultural products packaged to market, the origin and producer should be manifested. The products listed in the trans-gene biological label management contents should strictly comply with the management standards of those norms.
--To try out the system of tracking and promises. According to the principle that every sector of the link of production and sale can be mutually tracked, we should establish the system of recording the production and management of agricultural products nationwide, and to realize to track the quality safety of agricultural products. As for vegetable, pork and Food Supply products, we should promote the link and mutual recognition between producing area and sales area, market and basis, slaughterhouse and cultivating house, and to establish the quality safety promises system of agricultural products.
(III) To optimize the ensuring system
--To amplify the norm system. According to the quality safety supervision of agricultural products and the matching principles concerning the period before, during and after the production, we should actively adopt the international standards to clarify and revise the out-of–date national standards, industrial standards in time, and to stick to the formulation of he quality safety norms of necessary agricultural products.
--To optimize the system of inspection. We should organize and implement the schedule of the inspection system of agricultural products quality safety, actively introduce advanced technology and equipment, and try to shorten the gap from developed countries concerning quarantine area.
--To accelerate the establishment of the authentication system. We should strengthen the establishment of the authentication system and the organizations of quality safety authentication of agricultural products, and to make sure the management of the authentication of products and label. On the basis of the authentication of non-public detrimental effects and green food, aquatic products, and agricultural machinery, we should actively promote the authentication system of GAP and HACCP.
--To strengthen the research and promotion of technology. We should strengthen the research concerning the key control technology of quality safety of agricultural products and the comprehensive auxiliary technology, and accelerate the contrast and promotion of the inspection equipment and measure of poisonous and detrimental remains from pesticide and animal medicine, and make sure the research, development, promotion service of new variety, new technology and new products. And also we should actively promote the technology of environment purification of the original area of agricultural products.
--To establish the network of information service. We will regard the quality safety information of agricultural products as the essential content of the agriculture market information system, and provide the information related to the quality, safety, norm, brand, and market to the producers, manufacturers, managers and users of agricultural products, and establish the information system as soon as possible.
Ladies and gentlemen, the issue of food quality safety is a topic concerned by the whole world. Long-time and assiduous efforts are in great need to treat this problem. Chinese government, especially the Ministry of Agriculture, is ready to explore an effective measure to improve the quality safety level of agricultural products with the rest of the world. Meanwhile, we hope everyone here to pay attention and support the industry of food quality safety of China, strengthen mutual cooperation and communication, and to promote the human civilization and progress together.
Thank you!