Process Requirements in Chinese Food Law. Legal Systematic Analysis of Process-Related Requirements for Food Production and Distribution in the People's Republic of China

Food producers and distributors are the main responsible actors to ensure food safety in the People’s Republic of China. Where food safety is the goal, hygiene is the means to reach that goal. Food businesses must therefore obtain a license that demonstrates compliance with basic hygiene rules before they can enter into business. Also, food businesses must establish and implement food safety management rules to control food safety during the processing phase. This includes the control of incoming products, packaging, storage and transportation, traceability, and the establishment of a recall system. Under the principle of self-regulation, food producers and distributors are required to formulate self-regulatory rules to comply with their obligations. They are guided by the 2015 Food Safety Law, the administrative rules that further implement the Food Safety Law, as well as by various food safety standards that are characteristic to the food safety regulatory system of the People’s Republic of China. This paper covers the chronological steps that food producers and distributors have to take to guarantee food safety. Although this paper mainly focusses on food producers and distributors in the People’s Republic of China, overseas producers of certain high-risk food products that wish to export to the People’s Republic of China may also be subject to process-related requirements by means of facility registration.