November 20, 2008

China and the EU on Monday (November 17, 2008) renewed and extended a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on food safety cooperation.

The agreement has an updated framework that includes product and food safety, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues.

Food safety cooperation will be improved by providing China with immediate access to the EU's Rapid Alert System for Feed and Food (RASFF), allowing notifications concerning Chinese products to be acted on by both EU and Chinese authorities.

Granting access to the RASFF alerts will allow China to provide product distribution lists and track potentially harmful products more quickly, said an EU official.