A food safety project was launched Friday by the Beijing municipal government to ensure all vegetables and meats come up to the city's hygiene standards.
The project requires all producers to undertake that food production procedures will strictly follow standards set by the local government. All vegetables and meats imported from other provinces must indicate the place of origin.
Representatives from the country's major agricultural bases, including the provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Fujian and Guangdong, came to Beijing to be briefed on the food production standards.
The local government also ordered pork wholesalers to build direct links with slaughterhouses and retailers to sell meat from designated slaughterhouses.
The city's 67 slaughterhouses are all undergoing a thorough inspection and those that fail to meet hygiene standards will be closed.
(China Daily July 01, 2002)