US says will work with China on product safety

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-19 14:41

The US Food and Drug Administration opened a new office Wednesday in China's capital -- its first outside the United States -- as part of a new global strategy to ensure the safety of trillions of dollars of imports.

US Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said a new strategy was needed because the United States imported $2 trillion worth of goods this year.

"When one sees the enormity of that, it becomes clear you cannot inspect everything," he said at a news conference Tuesday after a product safety workshop with Chinese officials. "We have to change our strategy from one of simple inspections at the border. We have to build quality into every product in every step of the process."

The FDA office in Beijing will be followed by two more in the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou. Offices will also be open in India next month and Latin America in January as the FDA tries to globalize its presence.

The staffers will inspect local facilities, provide guidance on US quality standards, and eventually train local experts to conduct inspections on behalf of the FDA.

Leavitt and the agency's Food and Drug Commissioner, Andrew von Eschenbach, said the new measures would include better technology for detecting contamination, greater demands for corporate responsibility and increased sharing of information.

Experts say the FDA's presence may help solve some problems but the impetus still has to come from China.

In the past year, China has increased inspections and tightened restrictions on food production and other industries.

Von Eschenbach said Wednesday that the restrictions were needed to improve the stability of products going into the United States. But he said US officials were working closely with their Chinese counterparts.

"We look forward to working with them so we can resolve this issue in a way so that these products can move as freely as before," he said.