Food and drug regulatory system will achieve full coverage at the grassroots level

Recently, according to relevant sources, the reforms of the food and drug regulatory departments in various cities will follow the Tianjin Binhai New Area model and establish a food and drug supervision network covering urban and rural areas.

According to the above source, the CFDA’s three plans (establishment, function, and preparation) have been formed and communicated internally. They can be announced only by the relevant departments of the State Council, and they can be announced by all food and drug regulatory authorities around the country. Reforms will also be in full swing.

The reporter learned that from 2010 till now, four regions have carried out pilot reforms of food safety supervision, which will integrate the functions of food and drug supervision to solve the problem of “regulating the water in Kowloon”.

In Shenzhen and Shunde, Guangdong, a food safety supervision authority has been set up under the market supervision authority to organize the drafting of local regulations on food safety, and to assume responsibility for food safety supervision and management of food production, food distribution, and food and beverage consumption, and edible agricultural products (5.56,- 0.30, -5.12%) (including aquatic products) Quality and safety supervision and management responsibilities.

The Weinan City of Shaanxi Province has transferred the functions and personnel related to food safety in agriculture, animal husbandry, quality supervision, commerce, industry and commerce, and public health departments to the food and drug supervision departments, and integrated the above-mentioned administrative licensing matters, law enforcement functions, and technical resources.

Tianjin Binhai New Area engaged in the integration of functions and clearly simplified the food supervision from four stages to two stages. The Binhai New Area Food and Drug Administration is responsible for food production, distribution, catering service activities and drug, medical device, health food, and cosmetics supervision and management.

“The Shunde and Shenzhen models put the safety of all products under the supervision of a marketing authority, and the departments for food distribution are too narrow. The Weinan model integrates all departments involved in food and moves them very hard, but it needs to make the country Copying this model is more difficult.” The above source said that the Tianjin Binhai New Area model has been approved by many departments of the country, and is also consistent with the timing of the reform of the two major food and drug regulatory system. At present, the food and drug regulatory departments of all provinces and cities have gone to the Binhai New Area to conduct research and reforms with reference to the Tianjin Binhai New Area model.

According to Zhang Tiejun, Director of Tianjin Binhai New Area Food and Drug Supervision Bureau, in 2010, Tianjin Binhai New Area will be responsible for the catering services, health foods, cosmetics safety supervision and public place health supervision, quality supervision department responsible food The supervisory functions of the food circulation links responsible for the production process and the industrial and commercial departments are transferred to the district food and drug regulatory authorities. Secondly, establish and improve the traceability mechanism of food and drug sources, strengthen the supervision of all aspects of food and drug raw material supply, production and processing, market circulation, and consumer use, so that the sources are clear, whereabouts are clear, the process is continuous, and problems can be traced back to the source.

“After the reform, there are nine offices within the agency and six sub-bureaus; the New District Food and Drug Supervision Office has been set up, and the food and drug complaints and reporting center has been added. There are a total of 300 people in the recruitment and recruitment staff,” he said.

In addition to integration, a major feature of Tianjin Binhai New Area is the establishment of grassroots food and drug regulatory agencies.

Zhang Tiejun said that 27 food courts (towns) in Binhai New Area set up a food and drug safety supervision station and set up a full-time coordinator; set up food and drug safety monitoring points in 351 homes (villages) and set up a part-time information officer. “The vertical management of the region, the combination of the regional bureaus (combined with administrative agencies and professional law enforcement teams), supervision and supervision of the towns and townships, and the extension of the village's grid supervision model have enabled food and drug supervision to be effectively covered at the lowest levels.” He said.

The permanent population of Tianjin Binhai New Area is 2.48 million, and the ratio of food and drug regulators to the population in the district has reached around 1.2%.

“Without the most basic food supervisors, small workshops and small restaurants cannot be managed at all.” An officer of the Food and Drug Administration of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province told the “Economic Information Daily” reporters that the food and drug administration of the district cooperated with the sub-district offices and distributed the streets. The coordinators inspected various food stores and vendors, and "the coordinators topped a pile of documents and materials."

Similarly, grass-roots food safety supervision systems have also been established in cities where food and drug reform is piloted.

The reporter learned that 1915 food safety supervisors in Weinan City established 96 food and drug supervision and management offices in all grass-roots townships, making food and drug regulators account for around 3.5% of the population in the city.

However, experts pointed out that the promotion of the Tianjin Binhai New Area model across the country may face four major challenges.

First of all, can we have a large number of employees. Zhang Tiejun pointed out that following the supervision of food safety, the food and drug supervision authorities in the district are faced with a wide range of jurisdictions, a wide industrial field, a large number of relatives, a small scale of production and operation, and a low degree of industrialization. The characteristics of the organization, taking flexible measures to strengthen the food and drug supervision and management team, but the personnel are still insufficient.

Second, the Binhai New Area government invested heavily to use information technology to promote the construction of food and drug “wisdom supervision” projects. Is it possible to use informatization supervision means in financially diverse regions across the country?

Once again, rural food safety is a multifaceted area that is difficult to regulate.

The fourth is whether sustainability of policies can be adhered to. “The Binhai New Area model refers to a model of food and drug regulation in the United States. If the government promotes this model nationwide, will it be able to persist for 10 years, remain unchanged for 20 years, or even remain unchanged for 30 years? The system has continuity.” An industry source said that local food supervision has experienced constant changes in local epidemic prevention stations, health supervision, and food and drug administration bureaus, resulting in discontinuities in personnel and policies.