Jiang Deming, an agricultural technician in Sheyang County of East China's Jiangsu Province, is one advocate of the proposal to protect consumers' health.

The current Food Hygiene Law sets limits on 104 pesticides for 45 different foods, including grain, vegetables and fruit. "But it is far from enough," Jiang said, also urging tougher penalties for those who add too many chemicals to agricultural products.

Jiang, together with 38 NPC deputies, has put forward a motion on the issue to the NPC, which was sent to the NPC's Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee for further examination.

The motion, together with six other similar ones, will be reviewed for potential listing on the agenda of a NPC session or NPC Standing Committee meeting.

"It is the first step towards drafting a new law," said Jiang, who first raised a motion on reducing chemical residues in vegetables in 1999.

Meanwhile, sources with the Beijing Municipal People's Congress (BMPC) refuted recent media reports saying Beijing would soon release a local regulation on food safety. "I have never heard of that. It is not yet listed in the legislation plan of the BMPC," said Liu Weilin, deputy secretary-general of the BMPC.

Duan Bingren, vice-director of the BMPC, vowed that the congress would perfect the regulatory system for farm produce but did not give any details.

In the meantime, other measures have been adopted in Beijing to protect residents' health. The city has introduced systems to standardize, examine, supervise, issue market permits and test fertilizer residue on agricultural products.

It also has new legislation and credit systems in place.

Nationally, the State Food and Drug Administration has been set up to guarantee the health of citizens and strengthen supervision over food safety.

(China Daily April 3, 2003)