MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

FDA announces offices world wide; first in Beijing

The United States opened Wednesday a Food and Drug Administration office in Beijing, as the first step in an FDA strategy to try to improve food and drug safety standards around the world.

The move comes one week after the US placed a temporary ban on dairy products imported from China, which is still recovering from a scandal involving tainted milk. US imported 4 billion US dollars of foodstuffs from China last year. The first FDA office in Beijing has a staff of eight and will eventually open branches in other cities: Shanghai and Guangzhou. US Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said FDA China presence is the first step in a global strategy that will see FDA offices also open in India, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East in coming months. "The opening of offices around the world is part of a desire we have to both build regulatory capacity with host governments, in other words, to improve our relationships and to work jointly, in collaboration," he said. Leavitt said having US inspection personnel on the ground, around the world, means they will be able to respond more rapidly to any problems that could occur. China in recent months has been embroiled in a scandal involving milk tainted with melamine, an industrial chemical that gives the false appearance of higher protein content. The tainted milk has killed at least four babies and sickened tens of thousands of others. Melamine was also found to be the culprit in contaminated pet food ingredients imported to the United States from China in 2007, after pet cats and dogs died. Last week, amidst the latest scandal, the United States imposed a ban on imports of Chinese dairy products, unless importers could certify they are free of melamine. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang Tuesday said his country regrets the US decision, and called for the ban to be lifted as soon as possible. He also told reporters China plans to send "relevant" Chinese food safety officials to the United States. Qin gave no specifics, but said China hopes the arrangement will help the two countries strengthen communication and cooperation on food quality and safety. The posting of FDA officials in China was based on two agreements on the safety of food, feed, drugs and medical devices US and Chinese officials signed last December.