China and Japan discussing food safety

Japanese food companies are very interested in increasing imports of foods from China. The governments have agreed to continue to cooperate and improve their product quality and food safety systems, according to Xinhua/China Daily.

The two countries agreed to solve issues including exports of Chinese pumpkins and the meat of artiodactyls (cattle, deer and other hoofed animals) to Japan, as well as Japanese rice exports to China:

According to discussions between the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries officials in Beijing on Sunday, China has agreed to import the second batch of 150 tons of rice from Japan before next March, while Japan agreed to devise and launch working procedures, including insect inspections of Japanese rice, by the end of next March.

The first batch of Japanese rice, approximately 24 tons, hit the shelves of department stores in Beijing and Shanghai in July and has been sold out. Japan said it would immediately launch domestic legal procedures to ensure import bans on Chinese pumpkins could be lifted by the end of next March.

It promised to start importing Chinese artiodactyl meat by the end of March 2008, after it finished inspections of the products of 35 Chinese companies that sell such items. The two sides also agreed to conduct exchanges and consultations on quarantine and inspection techniques before next May amid efforts to resume Japanese imports of frozen raw poultry from China, according to the AQSIQ.

The two countries agreed to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation on quarantine and inspection techniques of exporting agricultural products, so as to normalize their bilateral trade. Let's hope we can look forward to smooth imports without too many incidents and food scandals blown out of proportion by the media. Consumers deserve better.

China Daily: China, Japan to further food safety cooperation