The US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Global Agricultural Information Network has supplied an informal translation of China’s 12th Five-Year Plan for National Food Safety Standards, which was published by seven Chinese ministries and government agencies in June. Goals of the Plan include quicker development and revision of food safety standards, the creation of a national standards group, and improving knowledge of the standards and their use. The Plan dictates that by the end of 2013, the more than 2,000 national and 2,900 industry food standards will be assessed to determine whether they should be upheld, combined or removed to eliminate overlapping, contradictory and outdated data. The Ministry of Health (MOH) will develop a set of more than 20 national food safety standards by 2015. By the end of 2015, the MOH will set pathogenic microbe limits for food and update standards for food additives and nutrition fortifiers, toxicological safety and detection, and food containers, packaging and processing products. It will also update standards for limits and test methods for toxins, fungi, food pollutants, and pesticide and veterinary medicine residue. In agreement with China’s Food Safety Law, the MOH has announced 269 national food safety standards.

Source: USDA