Crisis Response and Supervision System for Food Security: A Comparative Analysis between Mainland China and Taiwan

Abstract

In Mainland China, major food security incidents have occurred with high frequency, of which the number and degree of harm are both increasing. At the same time, Taiwan’s food security crisis has also been spreading. For these reasons, this article makes a comparative analysis of food security issues between Mainland China and Taiwan from a legal point of view and identifies the blind spots of the legal system and supervision using official documents and research papers regarding the most typical incidents in the period of 2008–2019. The results indicate that, compared with Mainland China, Taiwan has a better food security supervision system, and its experience with the supervision system, specific rules, social supervision, and responsibility is worth investigating. However, while there are loopholes in criminal law in Mainland China, which has not formed a complete system, criminal law in Taiwan is also weak in terms of regulation of food security incidents. Based on the results, this article puts forward suggestions with the expectation that, in the face of an increasingly severe food security crisis, Mainland China and Taiwan will strengthen their cooperation in constructing legal systems for food security supervision and inspection, exchange experience, cooperate in inspection, and share food security information to avoid rumors of food insecurity circulating in popular science. It is expected that the results and suggestions of this study will be helpful in the crisis response, as well as in the supervision systems in Mainland China and Taiwan for guarding food security. Although the comparative analysis is specific to the two regions, its characteristics are typical of food security globally, especially in Asia.