Food Safety Law in China: Making Transnational Law by Francis Snyder (review)

From rare and localized occurrences, food safety issues have intensified in the course of China’s economic development, to reach a climax during the 2008 milk powder crisis. Since the 1980s, governments at the central and local levels have tried to address this matter, and this can be seen by the series of laws and regulations that have been implemented during the period. However, these laws and regulations can be understood as a sign both that the management of food safety has become progressively an important element of governance, but also that they are partially ineffective and unable to halt the trend. Consequently, in China, as in Western countries a few decades ago, many consumers have lost faith in the ability of the agro-industrial system to provide quality food as well as in the government to keep things under control: the fear of the lack of food during the Maoist era has been replaced by that of unsafe food, especially in cities.

In this context of growing uncertainties, the 2008 milk powder crisis, caused by the addition of melamine to milk, appears as a warning. The scope of the fraud, which led to the death of six children and to health problems for 300,000 others, required a strong action by the central government. Accordingly, in 2008 and 2009, multiple reforms took place for the management of food safety, and culminated in the introduction of China’s first food safety law (2009). Yet, comprehensive studies on the evolution of the food safety system in China, before and after the melamine scandal are still rare.

The thick and much anticipated book by Francis Snyder fills this gap. The book not only presents an in-depth analysis of the evolution of the food safety system in China—which far exceeds the legal focus suggested in the title—but also frames it in the broader context of global governance. The development of a global trade for agricultural products, which is regulated by the international standards of the Codex Alimentarius, is sufficient to explain this focus. After all, melamine-contaminated pet food exported from China to the United States and Canada may have caused the death of 4,000 cats and dogs in 2006 and 2007 (pp. 36–37). Sanlu, the origin of most affected products by the crisis, was a joint venture company with the New Zealander Fonterra.

The starting point of the book is the impact of the melamine scandal on the public and the government. At the very moment the Chinese population became aware of the situation, it became clear that the Beijing authorities had to react swiftly and firmly to address people’s worries and ensure social stability (維穩 weiwen)—the overarching objective of the party-state and the government at all levels. Thus, after the general introduction, the author presents an in-depth analysis of the crisis. Based on the sociological concept of fields (which he borrows from Pierre Bourdieu), he rightly emphasizes that the crisis was triggered by the collusion of forces from three different types of “semi-autonomous fields,” which he calls “the three worlds of melamine.” The first world is that of international trade and global competition, which transmitted world prices to the domestic market, not just for milk but also, more importantly, for melamine. At the eve of the crisis, the depressed international market of melamine and its overproduction in China resulted in low prices, and companies were craving for new markets (supply side). The reasons why the melamine was bought by actors of the milk industry (the demand side) are explained by the second world—that of the organization of the Chinese milk industry and its evolution. The author basically insists on two sets of factors. The first is related to the organization of the market, especially the decision by large companies, such as Sanlu, to outsource milk production and to rely on milk stations for their supply. As stated in Delman and Yang...