Food safety in China: application of traceability along the supply chain

Abstract

This dissertation is devoted to the discussion of the role of traceability system in improving food safety and compares the legislations and regulatory practices between EU and China. . It also adopts a law and economics perspective, which contributes to our understanding of the reasons why traceability functions and how the laws should be drafted to facilitate such functions. The dissertation consists of six chapters and is arranged as follows. Chapter 1 is the introduction, focusing on recent government intervention on food safety issues in China. Chapter 2 reviews the literature on the traceability system focusing on its relationship with the food safety. Chapter 3 focuses on the legislations and regulations on food safety and traceability in E.U. Chapter 4 gives a detailed discussion on the Food Safety Law (FSL) and related regulatory reform in China. Chapter 5 is concerned with the traceability system, both the traceability system along the supply chain and the GIs. It presents a case study of the Longjing Tea and provides a vivid picture about how the traceability system functions in China. Chapter 6 concludes the dissertation. The main finding of the dissertation is that China has been learning from and catching up with the European food safety regulation, there is still significant improvements that could be made. It should at least increase the enforcement of laws and regulations and unify the segmented and multiple governmental regulations. The creation of a national traceability system will become a good opportunity for China to improve its food safety, as it will provide precious information needed by regulators, producers and consumers.