2022-2023 Policy Changes in the Food Industry

In 2022 and 2023, policies related to the food industry have been introduced successively, guiding the industry onto a more standardized track while promoting industrial high-quality development. These policies include banning the production and sale of foods containing edible gold and silver powder, formulating plans to improve the competitiveness of the dairy industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, strengthening food safety supervision, and promoting the development of the pre-made food industry.

Policy: Three departments crack down on the illegal production and operation of food products containing gold and silver foil powder

In recent years, some food products containing gold and silver foil powder (hereinafter referred to as gold and silver foil powder) have appeared in the market as a consumption gimmick, posing a food safety risk. According to China's relevant food safety laws, regulations, and food safety standards, gold and silver foil powder is not a food additive and cannot be used in food production and operation.

On January 29th, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Health Commission, and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued the "Notice on the Joint Crackdown on Illegal Activities in the Production and Operation of Food Products Containing Gold and Silver Foil Powder", requiring various departments to strengthen law enforcement efforts, crack down on illegal activities in the production and operation of food products containing gold and silver foil powder, crack down on false promotion of gold and silver foil powder as edible substances, and crack down on imported food products containing gold and silver foil powder. Once any of these illegal activities are confirmed, they will be dealt with strictly, severely, quickly, and in accordance with the law; if suspected of criminal acts, they will be transferred to the public security organs for investigation and prosecution in accordance with the law.

Policy: Action Plan to Enhance Dairy Competitiveness during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period: Reaching a Dairy Production of 4.1 Million Tons by 2025

On February 16th, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released the Action Plan to Enhance Dairy Competitiveness during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), aiming to enhance dairy competitiveness and ensure dairy supply security. The Action Plan requires that by 2025, the national dairy production reaches around 4.1 million tons, and the proportion of large-scale dai

Policy: Food Production and Operation Supervision and Inspection Management Measures

Starting from March 15th, the "Food Production and Operation Supervision and Inspection Management Measures" (Order No. 49 of the State Administration for Market Regulation, referred to as the "Measures") will be implemented officially. The "Measures" consists of 7 chapters and 55 articles, and compared to the previous ones, it has added two supervision and inspection methods: on-the-spot inspection and system inspection, and has complemented and refined the inspection content for production, sales, catering and other links, with stricter requirements.

The "Measures" specifically states that based on the food category, business scale, risk control ability, credit status, and supervision and inspection situation of food producers and operators, the risk level of food producers and operators is classified into four categories: A, B, C, and D. It requires that at least once every two years, all food producers and operators within the administrative region should be supervised and inspected covering all key points. The "Measures" also specifies the timely tracing and handling of food safety violations.

Policy: Multiple Policies Target "Pre-made Dishes" Trillion Industry

This year, Guangdong, Shandong, Fujian, Hebei and other regions have introduced policies to support the development of the pre-made dishes industry. On March 25, 2020, the Guangdong Provincial Government released the "Ten Measures to Accelerate the High-quality Development of Guangdong's Pre-made Dishes Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), which aims to promote the development of Guangdong's pre-made dishes industry by building a joint research and development platform for pre-made dishes, expanding the pre-made dishes industry cluster, and cultivating demonstration enterprises in the pre-made dishes industry. In April, Shandong Weifang released the "Three-Year Action Plan for the High-quality Development of Weifang's Pre-made Dishes Industry (2022-2024)", in which Shouguang and Zhucheng, subordinate to their own agricultural foundation and food processing system, have developed rapidly in the pre-made dishes industry.

Some institutions predict that the pre-made dishes industry in China has the potential to become the next trillion-dollar industry within the next three to five years. However, like all industries in their early stage of development, the pre-made dishes industry also faces many challenges, such as uncontrollable quality of dishes and severe homogeneity. What difficulties and challenges are waiting to be solved in the current pre-made dishes industry? What should companies do to promote the healthy and sustainable development of the industry? What are the thoughts of practitioners?

Policy: Multiple Agencies Jointly Crack Down on Seed Industry Fraud, Counterfeiting, Obtaining Benefit through Fraud, and Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights

On March 25, 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the National Intellectual Property Office jointly issued the "Guiding Opinion on Protecting Intellectual Property Rights in Seed Industry, Cracking Down on Fraud, Counterfeiting, Obtaining Benefit through Fraud, and Infringement of Intellectual Property Rights" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinion"). The Opinion requires comprehensive strengthening of intellectual property protection in the seed industry, adhering to departmental coordination, horizontal linkage, fundamental treatment, comprehensively utilizing legal, economic, technical, administrative and other means, implementing full chain and full process supervision, severely cracking down on fraudulent, counterfeit, obtaining benefit through fraud, and infringing acts of seed industry intellectual property rights, making infringers pay a heavy price.

The Opinion identifies five specific measures. Firstly, accelerate the revision and improvement of laws and regulations to lay a solid foundation for seed industry intellectual property protection system. Secondly, strengthen judicial protection to severely crack down on infringement of seed industry intellectual property rights. Thirdly, strengthen technical and standard support to improve seed variety management. Fourthly, strictly implement administrative law enforcement to increase the crackdown on seed industry illegal cases. Fifthly, promote social supervision and governance together to build a good environment for seed industry innovation and development.