China to Ban Harmful Farm Products in Food Market

China to ban harmful farm products in food market

BEIJING, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) — Harmful farm products will be banned from sale if China’s parliament agrees on a motion written to ensure product safety.

The draft law on the safety and quality of agricultural products was submitted to the Standing Committee of the 10th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, for a second review on Saturday.

The law will be enacted if it passes three rounds of reviews.

The products listed by the draft law include those containing state-banned pesticides or farm chemicals, those containing excessive chemical residue or other poisonous substances, and products with infectious parasites, amoebas or animal toxins.

Food products containing substandard preservatives and additives will also be banned from the market.

Chen Yiyu, a lawmaker attending the first round review, suggested fowl products that might spread epidemic diseases should also be banned. But this suggestion was not written into the draft.

The safety of agricultural produce has come under the spotlight in recent years, manifested by the reversal of safety indicators and occasional food-poisoning emergencies.

Among the 381 major food-poisoning incidents reported by the Ministry of Health in 2004, 140 were caused by poisonous animals and plants. Experts said the absence of farm product laws may account for a lack of safety supervision.

According to the draft, companies or individuals selling the banned farm products will be fined between 2,000 and 20,000 yuan (247 to 2,469 U.S. dollars). Market owners will also be penalized if banned products appear in their markets.