U.S. food watchdog sets up in China, amid dairy clash

By Emma Graham-Harrison

BEIJING (Reuters) - Washington plans to check Chinese food for bugs and toxins before it even sets sail for the United States, as part of a strategy to keep consumers safe in the face of global trade challenges, the U.S. Health Secretary said on Tuesday.

Mike Leavitt, speaking ahead of the opening of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) offices in China’s political, financial and export hubs, said the U.S. could no longer rely on border checks.

“The global market has clearly changed the nature of our challenge in keeping products safe,” he said, adding that imports to the U.S. would be close to $2 trillion this year alone.

“When one sees the enormity of that it becomes clear you cannot inspect everything. It would bring the global economy into gridlock, therefore we have to change our strategy,” he told a news conference after meetings with Chinese counterparts.

Talk of a new import safety model came as Beijing called for the lifting of a ban on Chinese dairy products which could foreshadow the regime Leavitt hopes to usher in.

The United States issued an import alert for Chinese-made food products last week, calling for foods to be stopped at the border unless importers could certify they are either free of dairy products or free of melamine.

The burden will be on the importer to certify the food does not contain dairy products, or is melamine-free.

Through the new FDA offices the U.S. also aims to work with countries much as large companies work with their suppliers, contracting out pre-shipment safety checks, that will speed to well-supervised quality control firms.

FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach likened tackling food safety problems to fighting a forest fire, saying it was best to prevent either breaking out in the first place. Being on the ground in China to work with producers is a key way to do this.

The Beijing opening will be followed by two offices in India in December, and two more in Latin America in early 2009.

“We are going to say to the world, we want your products in the United States … but if you are going to have access to our consumers you need to meet the safety and quality standards that we put forward,” Leavitt said.

“If they are certified we will let them through. If not, you can count on heightened scrutiny. That is our new strategy”

SCRUTINY IN CHINA

At least four Chinese babies died and tens of thousands were made ill this year from drinking milk powder adulterated with melamine, a chemical used to cheat protein tests. Many countries have begun checking Chinese exports of milk and egg products.

Last year, melamine-tainted pet food ingredients from China were blamed for the deaths of dogs and cats in the United States.  Continued…

Source

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related Posts:


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States issued an import alert for Chinese-made food products on Thursday, calling for foods to be stopped at the border unless importers can certify they are either free of dairy or free of melamine. Two top U.S. health officials announced they will go to China next week to open food inspection

Full Post: U.S. bans melamine-tainted Chinese dairy products
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Lucy Hornby BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. officials opened the first overseas Food and Drug Administration office in Beijing on Wednesday as they gear up for a long battle to ensure the quality of food, drug and feed imports from China. The eight FDA workers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will set up a process for pre-certifying

Full Post: U.S. says food, drug inspection access in China improving
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BEIJING (Reuters) - Over a thousand Chinese infants are still in hospital receiving treatment for kidney damage caused by tainted milk, China’s Health Ministry said on Thursday, more than two months after the scandal broke. A total 50,741 children have recovered and been discharged, since news that many dairy products were contaminated with an industrial chemical

Full Post: Over 1,000 melamine babies still in China hospitals
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Milk, toothpaste, cough syrup, pet food, eels, blood thinner, car parts, pork, eggs, honey, chicken, dumplings, cooking oil and rice — if you can fake it or taint it, you can almost guarantee it’s happened in China. A string of product safety scandals, including contaminated infant formula that is believed to

Full Post: “Made in China” label battered by product scandals
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BEIJING (Reuters) - China, fighting a spreading tainted milk scandal, needs a more coherent food-safety system, with unified laws, one overarching watchdog and faster sharing of information, the United Nations said on Wednesday. China has been swept by a series of food- and product-safety scandals involving goods as diverse as toys, tires, toothpaste, pet food, fish,

Full Post: China needs more coherent food-safety system: U.N.

Site Navigation

Most Read

Search

Contact

  • kinwrite.com@gmail.com