China seized and destroyed 3,514 tons of illegally imported meat products in the first half of this year, said the country's food safety watchdog here on Thursday at a press conference.

A press release of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (SAQSIQ) said the administration has established a long-term effective mechanism to crack down on illegally imported food.

In the January-June period, SAQSIQ adjusted the name list of meat importing countries and companies for six times, it said, adding that 169 foreign companies have been permitted to export meat to China, while the meat products import from 26 registered foreign meat producers have been suspended due to quality or safety problems.

The administration also carried out quality surveillance and control program for 29 categories of imported products, including imported rice, meat products, plant oil, casings, industrial food and cosmetics.

The press release said the SAQSIQ accelerated the implementation of food quality and safety market access system as 2006 is China's second Food Safety Year for quality supervision, inspection and quarantine system.

By the end of June this year, 370 kinds of food in 29 categories defined by national standards have been included into production license and market access system, accounting for 70 percent of all the food varieties.

Meanwhile, 65,000 production licenses for food have been issued. At present, the administration is launching market access system for another 525 kinds of food under 28 categories defined by national standards.

Besides, the administration also carried out overall survey on food additive producers and explored the possibility of setting up a registration system for food additive using in order to prohibit the illegal use of food additive.

Source: Xinhua