"Law of the People's Republic of China on Anti-Food Waste (Draft)" submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation

Legislation to stop "waste on the tip of the tongue" (adhere to and improve the system of people's congresses)

  Our reporter Xu Jun

  "People's Daily" (18th edition on January 14, 2021)

  Eat a buffet, no matter how much you can eat, take it first; treat a meal, “the little left indicates that the host is generous and hospitable”; if you can’t finish it, you don’t need to pack it... As people’s living standards continue to improve, the phenomenon of “waste on the tip of the tongue” is also increasing. The more it arouses social attention.

For these wrong practices and concepts, in the past, apart from moral condemnation, there were no more "hard" methods.

  On December 22, 2020, the "Law of the People's Republic of China on Anti-Food Waste (Draft)" was submitted to the 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress for deliberation. There will be laws to follow to control food waste.

"To formulate the Anti-Food Waste Law, the policy measures that have been effective in recent years in my country’s practice have been upgraded to legal provisions, and the responsibilities of all relevant entities have been clarified. This is conducive to establishing a long-term mechanism, giving play to the leading and regulating role of the law, and establishing catering consumption for the whole society , The basic code of conduct for daily food consumption." said Xu Anbiao, deputy director of the Legal Work Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

Misleading consumers to over-order meals, possible fines

  "One porridge, one meal, when thinking is hard to come by; half a thread and half a thread, constant thoughts and material resources are difficult."

Walking into the dining hall of the Fifth Middle School in Ningjin County, Hebei Province, the poster slogan on the wall is particularly eye-catching.

  In August 2020, General Secretary Xi Jinping made important instructions to stop catering waste, emphasizing the need to strengthen legislation, strengthen supervision, take effective measures, establish long-term mechanisms, and resolutely stop catering waste.

  Anti-food waste has quickly become the focus of heated discussions in all sectors of society.

Various localities have adopted various measures to increase propaganda against food waste.

  "To formulate an anti-food waste law, to inherit and promote the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, to cultivate and practice the core socialist values, and to provide legal guarantees for ensuring national food security and creating an atmosphere of shameful waste and pride in saving in the whole society." Xu Anbiao said, The draft establishes an anti-food waste social co-governance mechanism featuring government leadership, departmental collaboration, industry guidance, media supervision, and public participation.

  Looking at the draft anti-food waste law, the reporter saw that the responsibilities of various entities are clear, such as:

  Catering service providers should “proactively remind consumers to prevent food waste, post or place anti-food waste signs in conspicuous locations, or provide instructions by service personnel to guide consumers to order appropriate meals as needed”;

  Units with canteens should "strengthen inspections during meals, and promptly correct wasteful behaviors";

  Catering takeaway platforms should “remind consumers to order an appropriate amount in a significant way”;

  Tour operators should "guide tourists to have a civilized and healthy meal. Travel agencies and tour guides should remind tourists to order and take meals appropriately when arranging group meals."

  The draft also stipulates that catering service providers can charge consumers who have caused obvious waste to deal with food waste.

In violation of the provisions of this law, catering service providers induce or mislead consumers to order excessive meals and cause obvious waste, the market supervision and management department of the local people's government at or above the county level or the competent commerce department shall order corrections and give warnings; if they refuse to make corrections, A fine of not less than 1,000 yuan but not more than 10,000 yuan shall be imposed.

  Although the rice grains are small, it is especially true of courtesy, justice and shame; saving small things can help the country and the country.

The Anti-Food Waste Law adheres to the combination of restraint and advocacy, restricts official meals, regulates the catering service behaviors of catering service providers and catering take-out platforms, strengthens the management of unit canteens, school canteens, and off-campus catering units, and clarifies tourism operators and food operators Responsibilities, encourage individuals and families to form good habits and lifestyles of scientific health, make the best use of materials, and prevent waste, and require organizers and participants of weddings and funerals, gatherings of friends, family gatherings and other activities to order meals scientifically and appropriately. Eat healthy.

Production of "Big Stomach King Eat Broadcasting", or be held legally responsible

  One person eats a mountain of fried chicken and drinks a bucket of milk tea...In recent years, the so-called "big appetite king eating broadcast" has emerged on social media.

Behind the incredible short video is a chain of interests.

After the short video and live broadcast of eyeballs become popular, food bloggers may receive advertisement endorsement invitations from some catering companies.

Many of these "eating and broadcasting" are edited, or induce vomiting after eating, which promotes eating too much, overeating, and also causing food waste.

  In September 2020, the National Cyberspace Administration of China issued an announcement stating that in the "three rectification" actions carried out in the past month, the local cybersecurity and informatization departments handled 338 illegal and illegal live broadcast platforms according to law, closed 74,000 live broadcast rooms for anchors, and banned illegal activities. There were 105,000 anchor accounts, and 13,600 illegal “eating broadcast” accounts were dealt with.

  The draft Anti-Food Waste Law clearly stipulates that it is prohibited to produce, broadcast, and transmit programs or audio-visual information that promote food waste such as overeating and overeating.

If network audio and video information service providers discover acts that violate the provisions of the preceding paragraph, they shall stop and stop the transmission of relevant content in a timely manner; if the circumstances are serious, they shall immediately stop providing information services.

  In order to strengthen supervision and improve restraint measures, the draft also stipulates that, in violation of the provisions of this law, radio stations, television stations, and online audio and video information service providers produce, broadcast, and transmit programs or audios that promote food waste such as overeating and overeating. For video information, the department in charge of radio and television and the network information department shall order corrections and give warnings in accordance with their respective responsibilities; if they refuse to make corrections or the circumstances are serious, they shall be fined 10,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan, and may be ordered to suspend related businesses and suspend business for rectification. , The directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be held accountable in accordance with the law.

  In order to encourage the whole society to participate in the supervision of the implementation of the Anti-Food Waste Law, the draft also stipulates that any unit or individual who discovers food waste by food producers and operators shall have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant authorities and relevant agencies.

Departments and agencies that receive complaints and reports shall promptly deal with them in accordance with the law.

Implement savings in the whole process of grain storage, transportation and processing

  Catering waste manifests in various forms, involving multiple links such as eating, sales, processing, storage and transportation, and harvesting, and involves various subjects in the entire food chain.

  "It is necessary to find the entry point of the law, avoid large and comprehensive, small and comprehensive, and strive to solve the outstanding problems of preventing catering waste, and enhance the pertinence, applicability and operability of legislation." Spokesperson of the Legal Work Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Yue Zhongming said that the draft adheres to a problem-oriented approach, mainly focusing on prominent issues that the people have strongly reflected in practice. It takes the catering link as the entry point, focuses on food consumption and sales links, and takes into account other key links to set norms, and strive to solve "waste on the tip of the tongue." .

  The draft anti-food waste law stipulates that the national grain and material reserve department should strengthen grain storage management and organize the implementation of grain storage, transportation, and processing standards in conjunction with relevant departments of the State Council.

Catering service providers can use big data and other technologies to analyze and judge consumers' dining needs, and through measures such as building or sharing central kitchens and distribution centers, they can scientifically manage food procurement, transportation, and storage to prevent and reduce waste.

The state improves the standards for grain storage, transportation and processing, promotes the use of new grain processing technologies, new techniques, and new equipment, guides appropriate grain processing and comprehensive utilization of by-products, and reduces grain losses.

  In recent years, various localities have implemented the spirit of General Secretary Jinping’s important instructions, introduced many targeted policies and measures to combat food waste, and accumulated rich practical experience.

At present, Hebei, Guangdong and other places have issued special regulations to stop food waste, and some places are actively carrying out relevant legislation.

  “Our country has a vast territory and a long history of food culture. Due to differences in geographic location, product distribution, and customs, there are big differences in food in the north, south, east, middle and west. The performance and outstanding problems of food waste in different places are also different.” Yue Zhong Ming said that national-level legislation mainly provides for common, principled, and universal issues. Localities can closely integrate local realities, highlight the characteristics of local legislation, and formulate specific local anti-food waste measures based on specific conditions and actual needs. Further refine the institutional measures prescribed by the law.