Lawmakers demand reform of China's food monitoring system

 　　BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers and political advisors¹ have urged the government to restructure the country's food supervisory system to regain² customer confidence as Hong Kong's newly-adopted purchase ban on baby formula refueled the public's concerns over food safety.

　　Zhu Lieyu, a deputy to the National People's Congress, said Sunday that China's food monitoring system should be streamlined as the system is fractured and has many loopholes.

　　China's current food safety system involves at least five departments, including health, agriculture, quality supervision³, industry and commerce administration, and food and drug supervision. Insufficient⁴ communication and coordination⁵ among those agencies often resulted in low work efficiency and supervision loopholes.

　　A string of food safety scandals, particularly the one in 2008 when the melamine-tainted baby formula caused the deaths of at least six infants and sickened 300,000 others, have crippled customer confidence.

　　The Chinese government has taken a slew⁶ of measures to intensify⁷ supervision and management of the food industry since 2008.

　　The State Council issued a regulation in July 2012 with aims to improve benchmark mechanisms⁸, technical support for food safety, and the food industry's overall performance in the area over the next five years.

　　Authorities have declared that 99 percent of baby formula milk on the mainland meets relevant quality standards.

　　"Yet, so many people still rush to purchase milk powder from overseas, which shows that they still lack confidence in mainland's milk industry," said another national lawmaker Peng Weiping from east China's Anhui Province.

　　Surging demand of buyers from the mainland led to a chronic⁹ shortage of some popular brands of baby formula in Hong Kong's retail¹⁰ market, arousing dismay of local residents and prompting authorities to adopt restrictive measures.

　　Beginning Friday, people leaving Hong Kong can take no more than two tins (1.8 kg in weight) of infant milk formula with them.

　　Violators could face a fine of 500,000 Hong Kong dollars, or 64,500 U.S. dollars, and even prison terms of up to two years.

　　Already, 25 violators who bought more than two tins a day have been detained, eight of whom from the Chinese mainland.

　　Zong Qinghou, a beverage¹¹ magnate and also an NPC deputy, has urged strict legal supervision for China's milk industry, suggesting that those "black sheep" in the sector¹² should be sent to prison.

　　"Personally, I do not quite understand the new regulation of Hong Kong," said Zong, who is in Beijing to attend the upcoming annual legislative¹³ session. "But taking Hong Kong as a mirror, we can see the inadequacy¹⁴ of lawmaking and law-enforcement in food safety on the Chinese mainland."

　　Legislators maintain that too many agencies are responsible for food safety, leading to overlapping¹⁵ or ambiguous areas in their fields of supervisory responsibilities.

　　In order to uplift customer confidence, some have proposed the single integrated department that many believe will help strengthen supervision.

　　"The large department, covering all supervision niches¹⁶ on food safety, will be held accountable for not dealing¹⁷ with food safety incidents," said Zhu, a lawyer from Guangdong Province.

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

3 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

4 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

5 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

6 slew   

v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多

参考例句：

• He slewed the car against the side of the building.他的车滑到了大楼的一侧，抵住了。
• They dealt with a slew of other issues.他们处理了大量的其他问题。

7 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

8 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

10 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

11 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

12 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

13 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

14 inadequacy   

n.无法胜任，信心不足

参考例句：

• the inadequacy of our resources 我们的资源的贫乏
• The failure is due to the inadequacy of preparations. 这次失败是由于准备不足造成的。

15 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。

16 niches   

壁龛( niche的名词复数 )； 合适的位置[工作等]； （产品的）商机； 生态位（一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位）

参考例句：

• Some larvae extend the galleries to form niches. 许多幼虫将坑道延伸扩大成壁龛。
• In his view differences in adaptation are insufficient to create niches commensurate in number and kind. 按照他的观点，适应的差异不足以在数量上和种类上形成同量的小生境。

17 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。