Fujian Boosts Quality Inspection
CHINA - The quality of farm produce in Fujian province has been sharply improved in recent years to now rank among the best in the world.The agriculture department of Fujian province says that the inspection quality approval rate of Fujian farm exports even surpassed that from Japan, the United States and some European nations.
Despite its relatively small size, Fujian was the mainland's number three exporter of farm produce in the first four months, when its total value grew 28 per cent.
The department attributed the success to province-wide attention to export quality and consumer safety.
The department sets standards for farm produce, conducts routine and random sampling, and regularly publishes the results. It has detailed rules for quality supervision and is even prepared for emergencies.
The department now has 609 agricultural standards and 102 model zones for agricultural production to help it build a sound farming system.
Fujian had granted certificates for safe, "green" and organic products to 726 enterprises by the end of last year that produced 1,298 separate agricultural items.
It has also built 12 State-level and 152 provincial-level standardized agricultural production areas.
The city has also strengthened supervision and widened sampling for pesticide residue apart from implementing other standards.
To date this year supervisors inspected 2,700 pig samples, 48 milk products and 85 poultry products. It had also inspected 1,480 vegetable samples, 96 tea products and 100 mushroom products.
At the same time the province has moved to popularize "green" food. This year it expects to add 65 "green" and 15 organic food products, as well as 90 with a tag certifying "no-potential-harm".
Training offered to farmers by the province includes expertise in safe additives, poultry raising, fish farming and in tea, fruit, and vegetable growing.
The province has built 39 quality inspection stations at the county level and undertaken more inspections of businesses, farms, and wholesale markets.
The department itself uses law enforcement to improve agriculture by holding growers responsible for the quality of the produce they grow, including investigation and punishment for violators.
Nine medium-sized cities and 72 counties or smaller cities have 480 professionals for farm product law enforcement that strictly observe laws on farm produce quality and safety.
TheCattleSite News Desk