Recently, the State Council has issued the 13th Five-Year National Plan for Food Safety (the "Food Plan") and the 13th Five-Year National Plan for Drug Safety (the "Drug Plan").
The Food Plan outlines that by 2020 sample inspections for food safety will cover all categories and kinds of food, and product standards will cover all daily consumption food; food manufacturers and operators will be subject to inspection at least once a year. Meanwhile, it clearly sets forth 11 major tasks, including "implementing enterprises' main body responsibilities in all respects", "tightening regulation over processes", and "imposing severe punishment against violations and illegalities". In terms of the Drug Plan, it states that efforts shall be made to achieve a further enhancement in drug quality during the 13th Five-Year period; the evaluation rate of the regularly updated drug safety reports will be up to 100%; and major managers of all retail pharmacies will hold the licensed pharmacist qualification. Besides, the Drug Plan requires actions to detail and implement supporting policies in certain aspects, such as making payments from the medical insurance fund, purchasing drugs in a centralized manner, transforming technologies of enterprises, completing the pilot program of the drug marketing authorization holder system, and promoting amendments to the Drug Administration Law etc.