January 23, 2008

Beijing's meat traceability system to start operation in February

According to local officials, Beijing's meat traceability system will be operational by early February.

Under the system, pork, beef, mutton and poultry production details, from the farm to the retailer, will be documented. This will speed up the process of tracing for the food source if need be.

Presently, about 80 percent of the food products in Beijing are supplied by producers from other provinces. On a daily basis, Beijing's residents consume 1.1 million kg of pork, 0.77 million kg of beef and mutton and 2.5 million kg of eggs.

With this system, only producers or traders who are able to provide production details can continue to sell meat and processed meat products to buyers in the Chinese capital.

RMB1=US$0.1381 (Jan 23)