US, China extend food safety agreement
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended a 2008 agreement with China to enhance coop…The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended a 2008 agreement with China to enhance cooperation between the two countries on food and feed safety, the FDA said in a recent release.
The FDA first signed the agreement with its equivalent agency, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China (AQSIQ), in November 2008. Soon after, the FDA was able to open offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Among other details, the agreement allows collaboration between the two agencies, and a focus on what the FDA calls “high-risk” food products being exported from China to the United States. The agreement also helps facilitate coordinated inspections of food processing facilities.
To date, the FDA said, the country went from performing no inspections on export facilities in 2007 to 85 in 2011. The FDA has also held a number of informational workshops for Chinese industry members, discussing low-acid canned foods and farmed fish, industries the FDA classifies as “high-risk.”