SHENZHEN lawmakers have proposed establishing a food safety credit system for food producers and marketers.

The proposal aimed at prohibiting food safety violators from engaging in the food industry and incorporating food safety violations into the social credit system as quickly as possible, the Shenzhen Evening News reported.

Meanwhile, the city should strengthen daily supervision to ensure that food producers and sellers engage in food production and marketing in strict accordance with the law, the lawmakers advised.

The suggestions were delivered in a report on the implementation of the city’s food safety supervision regulations, which have been in force for more than a year.

According to the report, Shenzhen citizens’ satisfaction with food safety has increased from 57.8 percent in 2015 to the current 75.2 percent. Nevertheless, food safety risks still loom large and the deterrence for violations needs to be reinforced.

The report points out that 100 percent of the grain, 95 percent of the edible agricultural products and 85 percent of the foods in Shenzhen are from outside the city. However, the safety risks of such food are high and the supervision of food produced outside the city needs to be strengthened.

A long-term law enforcement mechanism for food safety is lacking in key places like schools and the canteens in industrial parks and urban villages, the report said.

Shenzhen also has a large number of food vendors and small workshops and restaurants, where the production technology and equipment are outdated and the sanitation is poor.

From the distribution of unqualified food samplings tested in the first half of 2019, the use of food additives is the primary factor leading to unqualified food, followed by heavy metal and microbial pollution, and excess pesticide and veterinary drug residues, according to the report.

The penalties for food safety violations, mainly by means of imposing fines, are not enough of a deterrence, the report noted. In the first half of 2019, 1,623 food-related crimes were investigated and handled, resulting in an average fine of 14,200 yuan (US$2,016) per case.

Moreover, the publicity of administrative punishment cases and the combination of punishment and education has been insufficient, said the report.

Shenzhen has been striving to strengthen food safety supervision and provide a safe consumption environment for residents.

On Oct. 25, the municipal market supervision and regulation bureau released 35 specific measures addressing five aspects, in a bid to further improve the quality of products and services related to the supply of consumer goods.

(Zhang Yu)