China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR, 市场监管总局) published a draft revision of the Food Safety Law (食品安全法) for public comment on 10 October 2026. Comments close on 10 November 2026.
Public comments close on 10 November 2026
According to the SAMR announcement, comments can be sent through the consultation section of the SAMR website, by email or by post to its Food Coordination Department (食品协调司). Two attachments are published: the draft text and an explanation of the revisions.
In a press release issued the same day, SAMR said it would refine the draft based on the feedback and speed up the legislative process. The draft is grouped into five areas: operator responsibility, key sectors, management systems, smart supervision and legal liability.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Issuing body | State Administration for Market Regulation (市场监管总局) |
| Document | 中华人民共和国食品安全法（修订草案征求意见稿） |
| Document number | Not shown on the announcement page |
| Issue date | 10 October 2026 |
| Comment deadline | 10 November 2026 |
| Effective date | Not set; this is a consultation draft |
| Scope named in the press release | Food producers and traders, online food trading platforms, livestream room operators and livestream sellers, cross-border e-commerce companies, postal and express firms, schools and kindergartens |
The draft adds duties for online food sales
The draft adds a section on online food operations (网络食品经营) with tiered filing (分级备案), SAMR said. It sets out the responsibilities of platforms, livestream room operators (直播间运营者) and livestream marketing staff (直播营销人员).
Online food trading platforms, like food producers and traders, must appoint a food safety director (食品安全总监) and food safety officers. The press release does not define the tiers used for filing.
An explainer by Liu Jinrui (刘金瑞), a researcher at the China Law Society’s rule-of-law institute, describes more of the section. It was published by China Economic Net (中国经济网) on 11 October and carried on the SAMR website. In his reading, platforms must file with the provincial market regulator within 30 working days of approval by the telecoms authority.
Seller licences would be checked every six months
According to the explainer, platforms must register sellers under their real names and review their licence or filing documents in substance. Checks must be updated at least every six months, and records kept for at least two years.
Platforms must use service agreements and trading rules to set out the duties of livestream room operators, livestream sellers and the agencies that serve them. The explainer says the draft does not split these duties further by type of party.
Restaurants selling online would have to show their food preparation in real-time video. Platforms must stop serving sellers whose licences are revoked, cancelled or expired.
The draft assigns cross-border food safety responsibility
SAMR said the draft makes cross-border e-commerce companies responsible for the safety of the imported food, food additives and food-related products they sell. Postal and express firms must apply real-name acceptance, content checks and X-ray screening.
The explainer adds that a cross-border seller must appoint a qualified domestic operator to handle recalls and act as advertiser. If the seller refuses a recall, the platform must suspend its service, may carry out the recall itself and can then claim costs from the seller.
The draft prohibits false labels and advertising
The draft regulates food labels and commercial promotion and strictly bans false or misleading claims (严禁虚假误导), according to SAMR. Infant complementary foods (婴幼儿辅助食品) would come under special-food supervision with filing.
Risk monitoring would extend to food additives and food-related products. Under “smart supervision”, monitoring equipment at key risk points would be linked to local regulators’ systems, and regulators would gain remote powers such as video patrols. Penalties would vary by type of violation, with individual liability for responsible persons and a food safety credit system.
The draft covers several types of operator
- Food producers and traders: food safety director and officers, production process records.
- Online food platforms, livestream room operators and livestream sellers: the new online food operations section.
- Cross-border e-commerce companies: safety responsibility for imported food, additives and food-related products.
- Postal and express firms: real-name acceptance, content checks and X-ray screening.
- Schools and kindergartens: a new school food safety section, head-teacher responsibility and accompanied-meal rules.
Not disclosed in the source
- The number of chapters and articles in the draft, and a clause-by-clause comparison with the current law.
- The criteria for tiered filing of online food operations.
- Fine amounts for platform, livestream or labelling violations.
- A planned effective date or transition period.
