China is one of the top ten growers of green food in the world, with 2.03 million hectares producing certificated organic products, a white paper says.

According to a report on food quality and safety released by the Chinese government Friday, China has established a certification and accreditation system covering the entire process "from the farming field to dining table".

The certification categories include certification of feeds, good agricultural practices (GAP) certification, certification of hazard-free agricultural products, certification of organic products, certification of food quality, certification of the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) management system, and certification of green markets.

The country has been experimenting with GAP certification geared to international standards in 286 export enterprises and agricultural standardization demonstration bases in 18 pilot provinces.

A total of 2,675 food-producing enterprises have received HACCP certificates and 28,600 primary agricultural products have passed the certification tests for hazard-free agricultural products. Continuous progress is also being made in the certification of feeds, alcoholic beverages by quality grade, and green markets.

The situation of food safety has been greatly improved in China as more and more enterprises adopt international practice, said Chen Ying, a fellow researcher with the China Test and Quarantine Science Institute.

"People from the developing countries are surprised by the advanced level of testing equipment in our laboratories," Chen said.

China adopts the certification management that is in line with the international practice for food laboratories, and strengthens international mutual recognition, information sharing and joint tackling of key scientific and technological problems, ensuring the accuracy and fairness of test results, said the White Paper.

China currently has 3,913 food testing laboratories that have passed the laboratory accreditation of China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS).

There are 163 inspection and quarantine laboratories for import and export foodstuffs nationwide, with 1,189 specialists and technicians working in them. The laboratories are able to examine and test 786 hazardous items, such as residue of pesticides and veterinary medicines, additives and heavy metals.

(Xinhua News Agency August 18, 2007)