Most of the vegetables and meats sold in Xiashan district have an ID card detailing their place of origin, distributer and quality assurance results. [Photo by Zheng Ying/Zhanjiang Daily]

Customers buying vegetables or meats at markets in Zhanjiang's Xiashan district will now receive receipt with a printed QR code that can be used to trace the product's place of origin, distributer and quality assurance results.

This forms part of the city's efforts to erect a vegetable and meat traceability system by 2020. Xiashan will be the initial testing grounds for the project before it is utilized in other districts, said Yang Wenguang, director of the Zhanjiang Bureau of Commerce.

As meats and vegetables are a daily necessity, their safety has always been a top national priority. In 2010, the Ministry of Commerce piloted the traceability system in 10 major cities around the country, including that of Shanghai and Hangzhou. After five years of experimentation, the project also has reached its fifth phase and spread to 58 cities nationwide.

Once established, the mechanism will make sure every single kilogram of meat or vegetable sold can be traced back to the source and people accountable. From then on, all merchants will have to register their information before entering the market, as a specific traceable code will be generated via intelligent scales and attached to the products later.

Last October, the bureau has started setting up the system in 10 outlets such as slaughter houses, wholesale markets, farmers markets and large or medium-sized supermarkets in Xiashan. So far, 213 retail intelligent traceability scales have been installed as well as 22 wholesale ones.

Merchants each have an intelligent traceability scale which can print the QR code. [Photo by Luo Lihua/Zhanjiang Daily]