New policy to promote public interest litigation concerning food safety

BEIJING -- China's administrative and judicial agencies have agreed on several key issues to promote public interest litigation related to food safety, such as violation of consumer rights and punitive damages.

In a public interest lawsuit on food safety, judicial agencies should not only take into account the damage that has occurred but also the potential risks, when identifying the infringement of public interests, according to the meeting minutes disclosed by the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) Tuesday.

The minutes were listed at a meeting of the SPP, the Supreme People's Court, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the General Administration of Customs, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration and the China Consumers Association.

It is a concrete step forward in the country's campaign of using public interest litigation to enhance food safety, the SPP said.

The document also suggested that local governments place the funds received from punitive damages in such lawsuits into public foundations and spend them on public projects to protect consumer interests.