ID :
101693
Fri, 01/22/2010 - 07:31
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/101693
The shortlink copeid
China to allow Japan to inspect food facilities in event of problems
TOKYO, Jan. 21 Kyodo -
China has agreed to allow Japanese officials to inspect its food-processing
facilities to help ease concerns among Japanese consumers about the safety of
Chinese-made food products, Japanese government sources said Thursday.
The step was incorporated in a draft agreement reached in talks between
Japanese and Chinese officials to secure the safety of foods for export and
also to prevent a recurrence of the 2007-2008 food-poisoning fiasco caused by
Chinese-made ''gyoza'' dumplings.
The agreement will cover not only foods but food additives, packaging and
containers, as well as toys for babies and infants.
It allows for either side to inspect the other's facilities in the event of
trouble involving imported foods.
The two countries are currently in the final stages of talks on the agreement
to be signed at an early date by Japan's Health, Labor and Welfare Minister
Akira Nagatsuma and Wang Yong, the Cabinet-rank director of China's General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama proposed concluding such an agreement in
talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in October last year.
Under the draft agreement, both sides will be required to file a report with
the other in the event of a problem.
Both sides will also provide information on producers and distribution of the
products involved in such cases.
The draft accord calls for Japan and China to hold Cabinet-level talks
regularly once a year to map out action plans for food safety, whose details
will be developed by working-level officials of both sides.
It is modeled on a similar agreement China and the United States concluded in
December 2007.
The U.S.-Chinese pact requires each side to file a report with the other within
two days following the outbreak of a problem and also to provide a reply within
five days after receiving an inquiry.
But the draft Japanese-Chinese accord does not contain this kind of time
requirement.
The Chinese-made dumplings fiasco broke out in January 2008 when 10 people of
three families in Japan's Chiba and Hyogo prefectures suffered food poisoning
after consuming gyoza dumplings produced by Tianyang Food in Shijiazhuang,
Hebei Province.
Nine of the 10 were hospitalized and a small girl among the nine fell ill and
lost consciousness at one point.
Japanese investigations showed that a pesticide, called methamidophos, has been
detected from the dumplings.
In China, four people are known to have suffered food poisoning due to Tianyang
Food's dumplings.
==Kyodo
China has agreed to allow Japanese officials to inspect its food-processing
facilities to help ease concerns among Japanese consumers about the safety of
Chinese-made food products, Japanese government sources said Thursday.
The step was incorporated in a draft agreement reached in talks between
Japanese and Chinese officials to secure the safety of foods for export and
also to prevent a recurrence of the 2007-2008 food-poisoning fiasco caused by
Chinese-made ''gyoza'' dumplings.
The agreement will cover not only foods but food additives, packaging and
containers, as well as toys for babies and infants.
It allows for either side to inspect the other's facilities in the event of
trouble involving imported foods.
The two countries are currently in the final stages of talks on the agreement
to be signed at an early date by Japan's Health, Labor and Welfare Minister
Akira Nagatsuma and Wang Yong, the Cabinet-rank director of China's General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama proposed concluding such an agreement in
talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in October last year.
Under the draft agreement, both sides will be required to file a report with
the other in the event of a problem.
Both sides will also provide information on producers and distribution of the
products involved in such cases.
The draft accord calls for Japan and China to hold Cabinet-level talks
regularly once a year to map out action plans for food safety, whose details
will be developed by working-level officials of both sides.
It is modeled on a similar agreement China and the United States concluded in
December 2007.
The U.S.-Chinese pact requires each side to file a report with the other within
two days following the outbreak of a problem and also to provide a reply within
five days after receiving an inquiry.
But the draft Japanese-Chinese accord does not contain this kind of time
requirement.
The Chinese-made dumplings fiasco broke out in January 2008 when 10 people of
three families in Japan's Chiba and Hyogo prefectures suffered food poisoning
after consuming gyoza dumplings produced by Tianyang Food in Shijiazhuang,
Hebei Province.
Nine of the 10 were hospitalized and a small girl among the nine fell ill and
lost consciousness at one point.
Japanese investigations showed that a pesticide, called methamidophos, has been
detected from the dumplings.
In China, four people are known to have suffered food poisoning due to Tianyang
Food's dumplings.
==Kyodo
