2011-05-12 13:43

BEIJING -- A total of 92 senior Chinese officials met in Beijing for a ministerial-level seminar about food safety management, as the country carries out its largest crackdown on food safety hazards to date.

The officials, including vice provincial governors in charge of food safety and senior officials from central authorities, were briefed about the "severe situation" of food safety and major tasks in the coming period.

They also shared experiences and explored better methods of administrating within the sector, said Wei Liqun, Executive Vice-President of the Chinese Academy of Governance, at the seminar's opening ceremony last Thursday.

The seminar was co-organized by the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, the office of the food safety commission under the State Council, and the Chinese Academy of Governance. It is scheduled to end on Friday.

The officials used recent food safety scandals as case studies, hoping to find better ways to coordinate supervision among various government departments and formulate a more effective supervision mechanism.

They also reviewed loopholes in current laws and criteria on food safety supervision and provided suggestions.

A string of food safety scandals have caused widespread concern this year, and the central government has promised a "firm attitude, iron-handed measures and more efforts" in handling the problem.