China has taken effective measures to prevent animal and plant diseases as well as poisonous and harmful substances from spreading into China in the first half of 2006.

Ge Zhirong, vice minister of the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, announced at a press conference held in Beijing on Thursday.

During the period, China intercepted 1,905 varieties of quarantine pests in entry plant and plant products for 44,781 times as well as 14 varieties of poisonous and harmful substances for 120 times, Ge said.

"We intercepted diseases as well as poisonous and harmful substances in entry animal and animal products for 131 times."

China has promulgated 21 prohibition decrees due to H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak among poultry in the countries like Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, as well as 18 prohibition decrees due to H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak among wild migratory birds and ornamental birds in the countries like Kuwait, Cyprus and Italy, he said.

"We have inspected 110,200 batches of imported scrap material with a total weight of 15.99 million tons and the value of 4.599 billion U.S. dollars, among which, 298 batches of scrap material were unqualified."

China has taken emergent measures to strictly control the importation of copper concentrates whose harmful content has exceeded the normal standards, he said.