December 31, 2012

US extends food safety agreement with China

In order to enhance collaboration between the countries on food and feed safety, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended an agreement with China.

The FDA first signed the agreement with China's equivalent agency, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China, in November 2008. 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 US.

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 workshops for Chinese industry members, discussing low-acid canned foods and farmed fish, which are areas that the FDA classifies as 'high-risk.'