December 28, 2007

China to launch first fishery production standards in 2008

China's first fishery production standards will be introduced next year to ensure food quality standards and address drug residue issues.

The new standards will include 100 items and will focus on fish breeding, quality inspection, disease prevention and reporting and fishery feed and drug usage, Vice-Minister of Agriculture Niu Dun said yesterday. 

Experts said during the annual aquatic food production conference in Beijing that a significant number of aquatic products in China still come from unregulated fishermen and small-scale farms.

Chen Zhongshi, owner of a small fishery farm in Anhui Province, said that a unified professional standard will help in ensuring correct information on breeding and product safety.

Fishery authorities in Shandong province spent RMB100 million (US$13.6 million) to standardize 13,000 hectares of fisheries this year.

The Ministry of Agriculture will also build 200 pilot breeding bases in the country with supervisory systems on feed and drug usage next year, Niu said.  

Some of China's aquatic foods were found with hazardous drug residues last year.

The US banned in June four types of seafood products from China for pesticide content.