SOURCE CONTROL OR END CONTROL: WHAT CHINA SHOULD DO TO ENSURE EDIBLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT SAFETY FOR EXPORTS?

Abstract

The article intends to figure out how agricultural product laws in China could be improved to ensure edible agricultural product safety and reduce potential food trade conflicts. The article first presents the background and legal framework for addressing the safety issues of edible agricultural product in China, with the conclusion that market-entry regulation has failed to perform this task. The article moves on to discuss the disadvantages of market-entry regulation (end-control measures) and the necessity of agricultural producing area safety regulation (source-control measures) on the following six aspects: gap between Chinese and Foreign standards, gap between domestic and export markets, small farms and diffused peasants, historical pollution and extrinsic pollution, lack of government enforcement and lack of consumer supervision. To improve agricultural producing area regulation, this article analyzes the primary drawbacks of current laws, primarily including unreasonable prohibited agricultural producing area standards, unclear pollution prevention rules, and regulatory overlaps and gaps. Finally, this article come up with corresponding solutions which contribute to a growing field of scholarship that examines food safety governance issues in the context of developing countries.

Keywords

source control / food safety / edible agricultural product safety / export

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2017 Higher Education Press