A delegation of the European Union to China launched a book Building Food Safety Governance in China on the occasion of a seminar on food safety on May 28.
The book, published in both English and Chinese language versions, is the result of a collaborative effort among Chinese and European experts from different backgrounds, including academics and officials.
The aim of the book is to highlight the achievements of 10 years of intense modernization of the food safety system in China from 2008 to 2018, covering all major issues, and making a parallel with what happened in Europe 20 years before. This book is freely available in electronic format both in English and Chinese.
The EU and China are major trading partners, and food products are an important component of this trade representing €22 billion ($25.3 billion) (including products traded through Hong Kong) per year.
But trading food products is not always an easy task because of the risk of food-borne diseases and the spreading of animal and human disease agents. Cooperation in the field of food safety is therefore essential to mitigate the risks as pathogens and contaminants don't respect borders.
The Ambassador of the European Union to the People's Republic of China, Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, speaking of the close cooperation between the EU and China in the area of food safety, declared: "Food is at the center of European and Chinese cultures, and cooperating on food safety is essential to ensure predictability for economic operators investing in trade. Food safety is the result of a close partnership between all stakeholders, public and private, and a single mistake by one actor can ruin the entire system. China has made huge progress in this area; the achievements made in the last 10 years are very significant".
The seminar and the book constitute the fourth part of a specific cooperation program on food safety between the EU and China building closer links between the two of the world's biggest trading partners. It represents an important step to reinforce the understanding of each other's approaches towards building trust in each other's systems.
A delegation of the European Union to China launched a book Building Food Safety Governance in China on the occasion of a seminar on food safety on May 28.
The book, published in both English and Chinese language versions, is the result of a collaborative effort among Chinese and European experts from different backgrounds, including academics and officials.
The aim of the book is to highlight the achievements of 10 years of intense modernization of the food safety system in China from 2008 to 2018, covering all major issues, and making a parallel with what happened in Europe 20 years before. This book is freely available in electronic format both in English and Chinese.
The EU and China are major trading partners, and food products are an important component of this trade representing €22 billion ($25.3 billion) (including products traded through Hong Kong) per year.
But trading food products is not always an easy task because of the risk of food-borne diseases and the spreading of animal and human disease agents. Cooperation in the field of food safety is therefore essential to mitigate the risks as pathogens and contaminants don't respect borders.
The Ambassador of the European Union to the People's Republic of China, Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, speaking of the close cooperation between the EU and China in the area of food safety, declared: "Food is at the center of European and Chinese cultures, and cooperating on food safety is essential to ensure predictability for economic operators investing in trade. Food safety is the result of a close partnership between all stakeholders, public and private, and a single mistake by one actor can ruin the entire system. China has made huge progress in this area; the achievements made in the last 10 years are very significant".
The seminar and the book constitute the fourth part of a specific cooperation program on food safety between the EU and China building closer links between the two of the world's biggest trading partners. It represents an important step to reinforce the understanding of each other's approaches towards building trust in each other's systems.
