China and U.S. Sign Food Safety Agreement
On
December 11, 2007, the New York Times
reported that
China and the United States signed an agreement
calling for a greater U.S. role in certifying
and inspecting Chinese food exports, which
includes an increased presence of U.S. officials
at Chinese production plants. The agreement
imposes new registration and inspection
requirements on Chinese food exports for 10
specific products. The U.S. government will
maintain a public list of the exporters'
records.
The report states that,
Michael Leavitt, secretary of health and human services, said he expected that officials of the United States Food and Drug Administration would eventually be embedded in China’s food safety bureaucracy to help train Chinese officials and keep records on their inspections. He offered no numbers on how many officials would be involved, however. “The Chinese recognize, as do we, that having F.D.A. personnel here would expedite the process of capacity building and increase cooperation and communication,” Mr. Leavitt said. “I am optimistic that it will occur.”
Although the agreement was not as sweeping as American officials may have hoped for, they stated that it was a start and could be expanded. The agreement is to cover some preserved foods, pet foods, and farm-raised fish -- all products that have come under suspicion of being tainted recently.