Law to take hard line on vaccines

THE DRAFT VACCINE ADMINISTRATION LAW was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for a second reading on Saturday. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

The draft increases the penalties for the manufacturing and selling of fake or substandard vaccines, and stipulates punitive compensation as high as 30 million yuan ($4.70 million) for knowingly selling or using substandard vaccines.

In the draft drug administration law amended last year, the fines for producing and selling substandard drugs were raised up to 15 times the involved money. That the management of vaccines is to be separately legislated, and fines up to 30 times the value of produced or sold goods are stipulated, reflects the authorities' intensified punishment for illegal behavior in the vaccine field.