Eight stipulations relating to the proposed product identification and tracking system have been removed from the latest draft of the food safety law, a senior NPC deputy said yesterday.

The previous draft required all producers to follow the system, which has been criticized for raising production costs and having little use.

"The changes were made after careful investigation and the solicitation of public opinion," Liu Xirong, deputy director of the Law Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), told legislators in Beijing.

Many NPC deputies, experts and companies had expressed their concerns about the system, he said.

"We believe it's better not to make it a legal obligation for all producers," he said.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has been the main supporter of the system, which allocates a unique code to every product. It said it was an effective way to improve food safety supervision.

A document issued earlier in the year by the AQSIQ, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce called for all products in nine categories, including food, cosmetics and home appliances, to carry a code by the end of the year or face being banned.

However, more than 20 food companies, including Nestle, Mars, Coca-Cola and Pepsico, submitted a petition against the paper to the NPC, saying it required the purchase of new equipment, would slow production and force packaging and design changes.

They also said the codes were difficult to print on some packaging materials.

Meanwhile, several developers of anti-counterfeiting technologies have filed lawsuits against the AQSIQ on the grounds the product and identification system breaches the Anti-Monopoly Law.

Users of the system have to pay its developer China Credit Information and Technology Co Ltd - in which the AQSIQ is a shareholder - an annual service fee of 600 yuan ($88).

Zhou Ze, a lawyer representing eight technology firms, said yesterday: "The AQSIQ is using its administrative power to help China Credit gain a monopoly position in the market, so we're excited about the latest draft changes."

Chen Junshi from the National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety said the system is of little use in ensuring safety, as it doesn't deal with the quality of raw materials.

(China Daily August 26, 2008)