Information on the country's imports and exports including quality and quarantine standards, regulations and policies will be made available online in March, the authorities said yesterday.

The move to strengthen standards and safety covers more than 4,000 kinds of goods in 14 major categories and sub-categories, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) stated on its website.

"As China's economy and trade with other countries develops rapidly, the amount of imports and exports has also increased greatly, making it an urgent task for quality inspection departments to ensure the safety of commodities and to safeguard the nation's image," the administration said.

"The database aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the latest quality inspection and quarantine information worldwide, including quality and quarantine standards, regulations and administrative procedures."

To help foreign enterprises and organizations understand China's quality inspection and quarantine policies and procedures, and familiarize themselves with the country's import and export goods, an English version of the database will follow in June.

By the end of next September, the database will include information on more than 140 types of food products.

"Food safety issues are attracting increasing attention worldwide," the deputy director of AQSIQ's food production and supervision department, Wang Hong, said in an online interview yesterday.

"It is a top concern for consumers and also a challenge the government must face.

"New technologies and materials have helped modernize food production but they have also triggered new problems, such as the safety of new ingredients, additives and packaging."

The State Council approved in principle a draft law on food safety late last month, as a supplement to the existing Food Hygiene Law.

The draft law stipulates that imported food and additives must meet the country's national safety standards.

Meanwhile, food exports should satisfy the requirements set by importers and pass local entry inspections and quarantine.

At the end of August, China had 448,000 food production and processing companies, including 26,000 medium- and large-sized ones.

Following a number of recent investigations, other measures to improve food safety have been introduced, including upgrading quality standards and tightening inspections.

(China Daily November 15, 2007)