The Food Safety And The Civil Society

In recent years, China's severe food safety accidents occur frequently. The problem can't be solved by spontaneous market regulation alone. Moreover, the government-led mode in food safety supervision is not ideal. We have to reflect and find another way to solve the problem, which does not depend on the government alone. Japan is one of the countries which have the most safety food. From the perspective of civil society, this paper takes the Japanese life cooperative combinations as an example, focusing on the successful experiences of Japan's food safety supervision and seeking its significance for ourselves, especially on its dynamic mechanism.The Japanese life cooperative combinations are autonomous and voluntarily organizations which are established by citizens themselves. They constitute the fundamental form of organizations in Japanese civil society. Their activities cover almost all aspects of the citizens'life, especially in the aspect of food safety. Their efforts in food safety include inspections of the chain of food supply, comparison test in commodity and information publishing, consumer education and directions for the consumption, attending international meetings and communication for information about food safety by learning from and cooperation with other countries. Meanwhile, the associations also organize its members to participate in various social movements in order to promoting the food safety and counteracting the unfair competition in the market. In this respect, the Sei-katsu-sha movement which lasted four decades in Japan is a prominent example. With the deepening on the issues of food safety, the movement has transferred from counteracting the unfair competition in the market to political participation, which reflects in direct petition campaign, political agent movement and the rise of Sei-katsu-sha network.By rooting in people's daily life and centering on the issue of food safety, the Japanese life cooperative combinations organize the citizens to cooperate actively and explore a new set of lifestyle and life concept at the same time, which promotes a new living order. These organizations not only set up a social identity in its members, but also promote the Japanese to practice democratic management and democratic supervision, in order to molding themselves into citizens for a democratic society. The development history of the Japanese life cooperative combinations reflects how Japanese civil society defined itself and wined the independent space by interacting with the state and market. In its relationship with the government, the Japanese life cooperative combinations not only promote the government's regulation of the market, but also act as a mediator between the government and the individuals. They reduce many social services of the government and avoid the direct conflicts between the government and the individuals. Moreover, they express the public interest to the government upward and convey the policy to the public downward. The relationship between the Japanese life cooperative combinations and the market is full of confrontation and cooperation. Centering on the issue of food safety, the Japanese life cooperative combinations waged a series of social movements against the unfair competition in the market. These activities not only strike the illegal market actions, but also make up for the asymmetric information problems in the market. As a result, they also promote healthy competition in the market and the self-discipline of the food industry.This paper shows that the Japanese life cooperative combinations which widespread in Japanese society contribute to its successful food safety governance. Encouraged by the Japanese life cooperative combinations, the relationship between state, market and society in Japan has reached a benign and balanced one in food safety governance, which avoids vicious competition in the market and the government's laissez-faire or weak regulation. This is precisely the successful experience of Japanese food safety governance. It is this balance that puts an inner driving force into the operation of various institutions and constructed a good order in the food safety governance, and thereby the Japanese food safety governance reflects the main consumers and the citizens' own initiative.In contrast, China lacks the social organization which can truly and effectively represents and maintains the interest of the public. The complex entanglement between state and market and the absence of a civil society make our people cannot counter the irregularities in the market when they face the problems of food safety, to say nothing of expressing their own interest through institutionalized channel. As a result, they have to wait for the state to government passively. Because of lacking intermediate organizations, the government and the people cannot communicate and interact effectively in the issue of food safety. People's interest cannot reflect in the laws and policies about food safety timely. What's more, there are many defects in the government's governance itself. Comparing with Japan, the relationship between state, market and society in China is imbalanced in respect of the food safety governance. The key problem is that our society lacks the ability of self-organization and self-protection. So it cannot form a benign and balanced relationship with the market or the state effectively.Different from the background of the social system of planned economy, what the realistic problem the Chinese people are facing today is how to choose and arrange their lives independently, and how to express and maintain their reasonable interest effectively in a post Danwei era when their interests are damaged. In view of this, the development of a civil society is particularly urgent today. On one hand, in the background of economic globalization, the boundary of the market is more and more beyond the national state, so the government alone cannot regulate the market actions effectively. The growing and development of a civil society, which allowing the people to organize themselves and to counter the unfair competition in the market, is a possible way for us. On the other hand, with the more and more concerning about their daily life, especially the food safety issues by people, the development of social organizations is more necessary and more possible. First, the existence of a civil society as a mediator between the individuals and the state, can supervise the government action, avoiding it deviate from its goal on account of lacking restriction and supervision. The individuals can therefore be protected. Second, the civil society can also minimize the direct conflict between the individuals and the state, giving the government some autonomy on policy-making and policy implementation, rather than being swayed by the popular opinion. At last, civil society is closer to people's daily lives than the state. As a bridge and links, it makes the state keep contact and communication with the public. More importantly, a highly developed social organization can simultaneously supervises the market and the state, promoting a benign and balanced relationship between society, state and market.The benign and balanced relationship between market, state and society should be our future goal of food safety supervision, as well as the general governance. In the short term, the government should encourage the people to set up their own social organizations and allow them to solve their problems themselves by cooperation and self-government, especially by legislation, instead of relying on the state to make arrangements for them. Therefore, in this case, promoting the growth and development of Chinese civil society by the growth of social organizations is an ideal path to improve our current food safety supervision.