June 5, 2009

China will issue 96 quality and safety standards for dairy products in the second half of this year, according to the China Dairy Industry Association.

 

The association said the standards to be issued will include 15 product standards, 4 production regulations, 63 physical and chemical testing methods and 14 microorganism testing methods. It added that all of them would match international standards.

 

Following last September's melamine-tainted milk scandal, the State Council circulated a Regulation on the Supervision and Administration of the Quality and Safety of Dairy Products last October.

 

The Regulation specifies that national standards for the quality and safety of dairy products should include regulations to limit the amount of pathogenic microorganisms, pesticide residue, veterinary drug residue, heavy metal and other substances detrimental to human health in dairy products.

 

The hygiene requirements involved in the production and selling processes, commonly-used testing methods and procedures for dairy products, quality requirements related to the safety of dairy products as well as other regulations will also be included in the national standards.

 

In addition, the Regulation stipulates that the national standards are formulated by the Ministry of Health, which should conduct risk assessment according to information provided by disease information supervision and administration departments. The Ministry must also carry out appropriate improvements and revisions to the national standards in certain circumstances.

 

The dairy industry is one of China's major industries in the food manufacturing sector. In recent years, China's dairy industry has an annual average growth rate of more than 20 percent and there are over 700 large-scale dairy production firms in the country.