Study On Food Safety Regulation

The scientific-technical progress and the economy globalization have brought increasingly abundant and novel food; and meanwhile it makes us facing various of food risks. Followed food safety crises has generated injury to consumers over the world, which has made the trade barrier increasingly high and brought huge social cost. Therefore International organizations such as Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO) and World Trade Organization (WTO) are aggressively promoting the foundation of the national food safety control system based on the risk analysis. Discussing how to effectively control the food risk is becoming a global topic. In recent years, the food safety accidents frequently occurred in our country, so establishing a high quality and effective food safety regulation frame is extremely important for our country.The writer believes that the malfunction of the food safety regulation has caused the food safety risk overpassing its reasonable level and even showed an out-of-control state; basically it is because the concerned social resource has not been deployed reasonably. This article carries out the theoretical deconstruction to the food safety regulation through multi views and integrative dimension and establishes a tridimensional food safety regulation frame; by reference of the above proceeds the empirical analysis to domestic food safety regulation and puts forward the clue and countermeasure in reconstructing our food safety regulation. It is divided into the following five chapters:Chapter 1 is an overview to the food safety regulation research. First of all, the article reviews the definitions of the food safety and food safety regulation. Then it makes a delicate pectination to the existing research findings from four respects including the necessity of the food safety regulation, the behavior characteristic of each main body in the food safety regulation, the food safety regulation system and the performance of the food safety regulation. From the literature grasped by the writer, the food safety regulation research layer made by scholar abroad has been exalted from "why to make regulation" to "how to make better regulation", and the research technique from the qualitative analysis to the quantitative analysis; The research hotspot is to promote the enhancing of the food safety regulation by surveying the existing regulation system via the regulation cost-income evaluation. The research made by domestic scholars to the food safety regulation mostly remains on the discussing to the necessity of the government regulation system and the regulation methods based on the information asymmetry theory; research to the regulation system is the current hotspot. Minority of scholars began to carry out the research to the food safety demand behavior of the consumer and the food safety supply behavior of the enterprises. It is shown from current research findings that the research to relative problems of the food safety regulation is split and dispersive. And mostly limited to the gamings between the enterprises and the consumers as well as between the government and the enterprise and the design of the excitation mechanism, which lacks the research in the multi view and the integrative dimension.Chapter 2 is the deconstruction to the food safety regulation. Nature of the food safety regulation is to promote the maximum use of the regulation resources and effectively control the food safety risk via the legal norm. The legislation is a process in expressing, coordinating and distributing the benefit. The law can be gradually accepted only by continuous adjustment to adapt the human benefit and the legal institutions will be effective only after it is widely approved by each interest party. Therefore the interest appeal of the doer in the food safety regulation, the theoretical structure of the interest conflict and the analyses to the interaction between the doer and relative law system are the preconditions of establishing an effective food safety regulation frame.This chapter is composed of three parts. Firstly, it analyzes the behavior characteristic, the benefit appeal, the interaction of doers in the food safety regulation and their behavior ability in the food safety regulation. And believe that they are independent yet dependent to, constraint to and cooperative with each other, which incarnate a multi cross control relationship based on a two-way cross control. Secondly, it analyzes the interaction between the doers and the regulation from three aspects such as the origination of doers and the food safety regulation, the execution of the regulation and the vicissitude of the regulation. It is believed that in the food safety regulation, the consumers have the strongest primary power, however, owing to the least political and organizational resources they possess, the consumers have the weakest activity ability, and have to yield the right to the public sector who possess the quasi legislation, administration and jurisdiction. The public sector has the strong activity ability in the food safety regulation but is likely to bring the malfunction in the establishment and the execution of the regulation owing to the influence of the interest group, lack of power checks and balance and supervision as well as the complexity in internal structure.Chapter 3 is the institutional construction of the food safety regulation. A "good" regulation should firstly be the result of the scientific decision-making and secondly adopt a high effective organizational structure to enforce it via the effective approach. Therefore it is essential to clear the decision-making process of the regulation, define the power of the regulation controller and realize the effective control to the regulation itself; It is the core mission to establish a high effective regulation system via the structural design of the organization structure, the authority and responsibility. The frame contains three layers: the top system design secured by the constitution system, giving priority to the administrative law and centered by the witnesses hearing and responsibility systems. the kernel system arrangement majoring in the regulation facilities organization frame and function design; The sublayer system arrangement taking the law, code and standard as the major content; It is to solve the problem of malfunction in the food safety regulation from three layers of "regulation decision", "regulation enforcement" and "regulation means".Chapter 4 is the empirical analysis to the food safety regulation in China. Firstly the present status of the food safety regulation is analyzed from three aspects of law & code, regulation system and regulation effect, on basis of which we can see that the problems existed in domestic food safety regulation are lag in legal standard, inefficient in regulation system and insufficiency in technical support. Then the root of domestic food safety regulation system is probed deeply. It is believed that the deficit in the top system is the primary cause of the food safety regulation malfunction. The embodiments include the defect in the legislation system, the deficit in the administrative supervision and the unbalance of the policy guidance.Chapter 5 is the research in international experience and the reconstruction of domestic food safety regulation. This chapter is divided into two parts: firstly the comparative studies are made to the food safety regulations in developed countries. It shows that the strict supervision and responsibility, high efficient regulation system and complete law and standard are the precious experiences deserved to be borrowed from the developed countries. Experiences both here and abroad shows, the key of the quality of the food safety regulation is whether there is a government supervised by the public and responsible to the public. In a country whose government power is out of control, the food safety is generally bestowed by the power and is not indispensable. Therefore the food safety regulation in our country is an even harder reform point and is an impossible mission for a food safety security act. Strengthening the "regulating" to the regulation itself, establishing high effective regulation system and sound food laws are not a single one can be omitted to overcome the food safety regulation malfunction. Secondly, the improvement measures to domestic food safety regulation are put forward from three layers: Deepen the reform of political structure and reconstruct the top system. The details include expediting the law building, transferring the government function and deepening the administrative setups reform; deepen the regulation structural transformation and reconstruct the kernel system. The detailed contents are on the one hand carrying out the lateral integration to the regulation system and organizing a integrated management structure for the food safety regulation and on the other hand carrying out the adjustment to the longitudinal relationship between the central government and the local government as well as weakening the local protectionism; Perfect the food laws and reconstruct the sublayer system. The detailed contents include clearing the deficient code and perfecting the food standard; establish the insurance system for tort liability and break the compensation problem; sharpen the civil and criminal penalty to lawbreaking enterprises; mobilize the strength of other party and economize the public resource.Main innovation of this paper:Firstly, this article offers a new angle of view about food safety regulation research.The writer believes that the research to the food safety regulation shall not be broken away with its system background and becomes a "pure technicalization" analyses. The essence of the food safety problem is that the relative social resource has not been deployed reasonably, thus resulted in the out-of-control to the food safety risk. The food safety regulation involves many doers such as the consumer, the government and the manufacturer; the effect depends on if each doer has adequate stimulation and ability to maintain the food safety, while the activity stimulation and the ability of the doer are closely related to his political environments and the social resource he possesses. Therefor,the malfunction of the food safety regulation has caused the food safety risk overpassing its reasonable level and even showed an out-of-control state; basically it is because the concerned social resource has not been deployed reasonably. This article referencing the theories and means of economics, law and politics, renewedly apprehends the food safety regulation and offers a new angle of view, that is integrative dimension.Secondly, for the first time this article deconstructs the food safety regulation and probes into the institutional matters of food safety regulation failure.It is believed that the doer in the food safety regulation are independent yet dependent to, constraint to and cooperative with each other, which incarnate a multi cross control relationship based on a two-way cross control. In the food safety regulation, The consumers have the strongest primary power, however, owing to the least political and organizational resources they possess, the consumers have the weakest activity ability, and have to yield the right to the public sector who possess the quasi legislation, administration and jurisdiction. The public sector has the strong activity ability in the food safety regulation but is likely to bring the malfunction in the establishment and the execution of the regulation owing to the influence of the interest group, lack of power checks and balance and supervision as well as the complexity in internal structure.Thirdly, this article constructs a new institution of food safety regulation.The writer believes that the key of the quality of the food safety regulation is whether there is a government supervised by the public and responsible to the public. In a country whose government power is out of control, the food safety is generally bestowed by the power and is not indispensable. A "good" regulation should firstly be the result of the scientific decision-making and secondly adopt a high effective organizational structure to enforce it via the effective approach. Therefore it is essential to clear the decision-making process of the regulation, define the power of the regulation controller and realize the effective control to the regulation itself; It is the core mission to establish a high effective regulation system via the structural design of the organization structure, the authority and responsibility. The frame contains three layers: the top system design secured by the constitution system, giving priority to the administrative law and centered by the witnesses hearing and responsibility systems. the kernel system arrangement majoring in the regulation facilities organization frame and function design; The sublayer system arrangement taking the law, code and standard as the major content; It is to solve the problem of malfunction in the food safety regulation from three layers of "regulation decision", "regulation enforcement" and "regulation means".Fourthly, the article reconstructs a new domestic food safety regulation system.It is believed that the deficit in the regulation decision-making is the primary cause of the domestic food safety regulation malfunction. The embodiments include the defect in the legislation system, the deficit in the administrative supervision and the unbalance of the policy guidance. Therefore the food safety regulation in our country is an even harder reform point and is an impossible mission for a food safety security act. Strengthening the "regulating" to the regulation itself, establishing high effective regulation system and sound food laws are not a single one can be omitted to overcome the food safety regulation malfunction. Expediting the law building, transferring the government function and deepening the administrative setups reform are the ultimate means to solve the problems of the domestic food safety regulation.