Sonia Chan praises food safety regulations

Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan made a speech at the opening ceremony of the 49th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Additives (CCFA), according to a statement published by the Government Information Bureau (GCS) and in her speech she praised the efforts of Macau authorities in augmenting the food safety regulations.

The session, which is led by the mainland’s National Health and Family Planning Commission and Codex Committee on Food Additives, is being held in Macau.

“As the saying goes, ‘People view food as their primary need.’ Thus food safety is the first priority [of the MSAR government],” said Sonia Chan during her speech, according to GCS.

“The Macau SAR Government attaches great importance to safe consumption and healthy eating of every resident. In view of this, we formulated the Food Safety Law in 2013,” added the Secretary.

Macau’s Food Safety Law sets a number of standards that aim to provide a legal means for regulating and supervising food production and consumption. It includes standards for drug residues, radionuclides, pathogenic microorganisms and mycotoxins in food.

Chan also pointed to a cooperation mechanism signed with authorities in Portugal that helps to coordinate surveillance of food activities.

“Through the co-operation mechanism, the information exchange, supervision and contingency ability in food safety are raised,” said Chan. “This is beneficial to […] raise the management level of food safety in Macau [and] attain international standards.”

The CCFA is an international organization that seeks to promote international food safety and protect the health of consumers worldwide. In 2006, China was elected as the host country of CCFA and is responsible for organizing and convening the relevant meetings. This year it is being held in Macau.

Last year’s session of the CCFA was held in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, and it welcomed over 260 representatives from 55 member countries, including representatives of the European Union. DB