South Korea plans to take a package of sweeping consumer protection measures in the wake of a Chinese milk scandal, government officials said Sunday.
The package will include a class action lawsuit system for victims and tougher screening of imports., according to Yonhap News.
Korean health authorities ordered the recall and banned the sale of all foods containing Chinese dairy after several products imported from China or made here with Chinese milk ingredients were found to be contaminated with the toxic chemical melamine.
Rep. Ahn Hong-joon, the Grand National Party's screening committee head, said the ruling party and the government agreed to introduce the consumer protection measures that will impose unlimited responsibility on importers for their products consumed here.
"I can hardly find a way to say this but to apologize for making the people worry about what they eat," Ahn was quoted as saying by Yonhap News. "On this occasion, the authorities will entirely revamp the monitoring and inspection process for all food items, including imported items."
Consumers will be able to collectively sue local food manufacturers of tainted foods. Importers will have to mark the place of origin of their processed food on a front label, and the place-of-origin tab will be at least half the size of the brand name.
When tainted food items are recalled, the retrieval should be promptly made public through television subtitles, and the government will issue a consumer alert when information on alleged contamination is acquired.
Manufacturers will have their licenses suspended when violations related to food safety are spotted twice and, will have to pay fines of up to 10 times more than their proceeds from the tainted food.
The policy will also raise the minimum number of close examinations that imported food must undergo from the current 20 percent to 30 percent of all items. Countries that have a track record of food contamination will be subject to tougher screening.
In particular, snacks for children will receive closer inspection. All additives used in children's food should be permitted by the standards of the United States, the European Union, Japan and the U.N. _ food guidelines called CODEX.
Meanwhile, the Korea Food and Drug Administration said it found high levels of melamine in another snack, "Misarang Coconut," bringing to four the number of Korean food items contaminated with the chemical.
A test found melamine in the quantity of 271 per million, the highest amount of the toxic chemical ever detected in Korean snacks, in Misarang Coconut produced by Haitai Confectionery and Food Co., the watchdog said. The chemical was also discovered in another Haitai product, "Misarang Custard" cake, and "Vegetable Cream Powder F25" used in instant coffee mixes and "Milk Rusk," both of which were imported from Hong Kong, but made in China.
The watchdog said it expanded melamine tests prior to customs clearance on all dairy imports from all countries, noting that Chinese dairy could have been used in manufacturing food in third countries. Also, isolated soy protein products imported from China were added to the examination list to address suspicions that melamine could be added to increase their protein levels.
Chinese health officials said four children have died from consuming milk tainted with melamine, and about 54,000 others have developed kidney stones or other illnesses. There has been no report of a Korean victim yet.