China’s Market Regulator Proposes AI and School Food Safety Rules

What changed

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation has released a draft revision of the Food Safety Law for public comment. It proposes real-time video monitoring for key production and business risks, dedicated rules for school meals and online food sales, stronger duties for cross-border e-commerce, and penalties that can reach individual responsible officials.

Why it matters

The draft would move food-safety oversight further into the daily operations of companies, platforms and schools. Specified businesses would install monitoring equipment and connect live video to local market-regulation systems, giving authorities new powers for remote checks through video inspections and the Internet of Things.

Responsibility would also become harder to pass around. Food businesses and online food platforms would need food-safety directors and officers with defined duties, while school principals and kindergarten directors would carry responsibility for school meals and oversee supervised communal dining.

The online marketplace gets its own rulebook. Platforms, livestream operators and livestream sellers would face distinct obligations, with food businesses operating across borders made responsible for the safety of imported food, additives and related products.

The proposal also widens the net beyond food itself. Risk monitoring would cover additives and food-related products, infant complementary foods would enter special-food filing oversight, and labels and commercial claims would face tighter rules against misleading information.

The practical pressure point is enforcement. Penalties would vary by the type of violation, but individuals could be punished for deliberate or especially serious misconduct, and credit-based sanctions could extend across government departments. That would make food safety a personal compliance issue for managers, not only a corporate one.

This remains a draft. The authority will revise it after public feedback before pursuing enactment, and the final wording, implementation costs and legislative timetable are not yet stated.