China Acts on Its Promises To Strengthen Safety Controls

BEIJING, July 25 -- China announced Wednesday that its State Council passed a draft regulation to strengthen food safety in the wake of discoveries of toxic chemicals that prompted international bans and recalls on its exports.

China, which has been working to convince the world it is serious about cracking down on dangerous and phony drugs and food, also announced that it had busted criminal networks that made fake bird flu medicine, anti-malaria drugs, Viagra and toothpaste.

The government said on its Web site that the draft regulation "strictly regulates the activities of producers, strengthens the responsibility of local governments and increases the punishment for illegal activities."

No details were given, but the government said Premier Wen Jiabao attended the State Council meeting, an indication of high-level concern about the problem.

"Product quality and food safety concerns the health and the life of the people, it concerns the trustworthiness of companies and the image of the country," the statement said. "We must attach great importance to the matter."

The regulation goes into effect after publication by the State Council. The government did not say when that would occur.

The government said the fake-drug rings were busted between August 2005 and May 2006 and involved gangs across the country, two of which sold their products via the Internet or by e-mail, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The announcement, posted late Tuesday on the government's Web site, did not say what happened to the suspects, whether anyone was sickened as a result or why the information was released now.

A woman who answered the telephone at the ministry on Wednesday said the cases were among the 10 largest in a year-long campaign against counterfeits that began in March 2006.

China executed the former head of its food and drug safety agency July 10 for taking bribes for approving untested medicine, including an antibiotic linked to the deaths of at least 10 people.

In the investigation into counterfeit drugs, police in five cities and provinces arrested 19 suspects in May 2006, closed six factories and seized 40 tons of materials used to fake the flu treatment Tamiflu. The raid followed a tip from the U.S. Customs office in Beijing, the statement said.

The suspects were selling the drug to customers in the United States and elsewhere via the Internet, it said.