SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- A group of 12 lawmakers are pushing to mandate foreign food makers or local importers to register information of their food with South Korea's food watchdog as part of efforts to enhance the safety of imported food. Foreign food makers or local importers are required to give information on location, manufacturing facilities and products to the minister of food and drug safety seven days before filing import declarations.

Worried its gastronomic reputation is being damaged by substandard eateries, France is considering banning establishments from calling themselves restaurants if meals are not made from scratch by in-house chefs. The move, backed by the Synhorcat restaurant union and a group of lawmakers, aims to crack down on the proliferation of restaurants serving boil-in-a-bag or microwaved ready meals as restaurant-quality cuisine. But the proposal is facing resistance from some restaurant owners, who fear it will hurt the industry by driving up costs and are warning of major job losses.

Over three-quarters of the extreme poor in the world live in the countryside. Reducing rural poverty will therefore require significantly higher rural incomes. Since most rural incomes are related to agriculture, raising agricultural productivity can help raise rural incomes all round.

SASKATOON - Canada's food watchdog is planning to impose tougher rules to deal with the threat of E. coli in slaughterhouses. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will strengthen E. coli testing in federally inspected establishments that use raw beef. Testing will increase between April and October — considered barbecue season.