China to make farm produce safer by 2015

BEIJING - In an effort to promote product safety, China plans to spend 72.02 billion yuan ($11.35 billion) during the 2011-2015 period on improving a quality inspection system for farm produce.

The Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday that China will build one ministry-level quality research center for aquatic products, 16 ministry-level special quality inspection centers and more than 1,200 local-level inspection centers by 2015.

There are currently many safety hazards in the quality of farm produce, and the current quality system faces problems, including a lack of advanced instruments, insufficient local-level centers and outdated risk-monitoring information platforms, according to the statement.

The statement said improving the quality system is a significant step taken by the ministry to push forward the development of modern agriculture and safeguard the supply security and consumption safety of agricultural products.