A new product identification and tracking system - in the spotlight recently because it could raise production costs - is a vital step in ensuring product quality, a senior quality control official said yesterday.

"By tracking the unique code on each product, we can trace the whole production and distribution process," Song Mingchang, member of the Party committee of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), said while demonstrating the system to the media.

There has been some resistance to the system, because companies are unfamiliar with it, he said.

"But it won't raise production costs," he said.

"The code is printed on the package or the cover - not pasted on it. It won't create an additional production procedure, and most printing houses already have such equipment."

The code can also be used to determine products' authenticity, he said.

"Costs will actually decrease, because companies won't have to pay to fight the counterfeiting of products," he said.

It is the first time AQSIQ officials have made such comments after recent media reports that 19 firms, including Nestle, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola, jointly submitted a petition against the system, saying it could raise production costs and has little substantial use.

A consumer checks products' authenticity using an electronic tracking system in a Beijing supermarket on March 15.

The system, promoted by the AQSIQ, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the Ministry of Commerce, will, by June, cover all products in nine categories, including food, cosmetics, home appliances and farming goods.

Figures released yesterday show the system already covers more than 1 billion products from 32,000 companies across the country.

Song, however, would not confirm the administration had received the petition from the 19 firms.

"We did hear some different voices, and we consider it common for the introduction of a new system," he said.

China Daily contacted about half of the firms, but none would directly confirm whether or not they signed the petition.

In a statement to China Daily, Nestle China said: "With the current level of technological development, there are still many difficulties and barriers from a technical point of view for many types of product packaging and from a commercial viewpoint, substantive costs involved are a big concern."

Some firms have also questioned the validity of the system, saying it is not run by the AQSIQ but by China Credit Information and Technology Co Ltd, in which the AQSIQ is a shareholder. Firms have to pay China Credit an annual service fee of 600 yuan ($85).

But Chen Xiaoying, president of China Credit, said the fees barely cover maintenance costs.

"The system is the world's largest database. It needs hundreds of millions of yuan a year to keep it working," she said.

"It's almost impossible to earn money from it."

Some have said the system is necessary, as it could help improve product quality and ensure food safety.

"I don't think the costs are as high as some firms claim," Lang Zhizheng, a State Council counselor and an expert in quality control, said.

(China Daily April 2, 2008)