A REVISION to China’s Food Safety Law had its first reading yesterday and pledges tough punishment for offenders, promising the strictest food safety supervision system to date in the country.

    The existing system is not effective, penalties are comparatively light and it does not deter offenders, Zhang Yong, head of the national food and drug watchdog, told lawmakers, who are in Beijing for a meeting that runs through Friday.

    This is the first revision attempt since the law took effect in 2009.

    According to the bill, consumers can demand reparations worth three times the losses they suffer from substandard food. The current law only allows compensation of 10 times the price of the food. As substandard food can be very cheap and can cause serious health problems and great financial losses, consumers expect to get higher compensation if the revision is adopted.

    Bigger fines for offenders are also on the menu. Producers can face fines of up to 30 times the value of their products, up from 10 times in the current law. If the products are worth less than 10,000 yuan (US$1,600), those involved can be fined a maximum of 150,000 yuan, up from 50,000 yuan in the current law.

    The bill adds provisions to punish landlords of production sites who know that illegal activities are being undertaken on their property, and suppliers who sell unlawful substances to producers, knowing that they will be added to foods. Their illegal income will be seized and they can be fined up to 200,000 yuan.

    Administrative penalties, such as demotion and dismissal, will be imposed on officials who fail to respond to food safety emergencies and remove loopholes. They will also be held responsible for food safety cover-ups. Officials caught abusing their power and neglecting their duty for personal gain will face criminal penalties.

    National outcry, especially surrounding melamine in Sanlu infant formula that killed six babies in 2008, brought about the first Food Safety Law in 2009.(SD-Xinhua)