Food and pharmaceutical industries in Guangdong are planning to formulate the first local standards for corporate sociel responsibility throughout the Chinese province.
Recently the Guangdong Food and Pharmaceutical Profession Association held a conference during which chairman Zhang Junxiu said that the framework of "Guangdong Food (Pharmaceutical) Industry Social Responsibility Standard" has been adopted, and would be drafted once it has been approved by the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision. The standard will be based on the American SA8000, and will make some slight improvements in the areas of ethical behavior.
Currently there are no universal CSR standards in China. And some countries are setting CSR-based barriers towards food and pharmaceutical enterprises. Therefore the association has decided to establish local standards for relevant industries and enterprises to help promote exporting of their goods to nations around the globe.
Zhang also said that the standard will focus on not only employees' interests, but the protection of traditional Chinese medicine, environmental protection, and energy conservation. The local CSR standard will first be carried out in food and pharmaceutical industries and then be expanded to other industries to urge enterprises to fulfill their own levels of CSR.
