BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's State Council,
or the cabinet, on Thursday announced the abolishment of regulations on
inspection exemptions for food.
In a circular distributed to ministries and
governments at all levels, the cabinet said that it had decided to abolish the
regulations relating to quality inspection exemptions for food in a document
issued on Dec. 5, 1999.
It urged the ministries and governments to step up
supervision, perform their duties strictly and carry out food quality
inspections in line with relevant laws to ensure food safety.
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Saleswomen check the returned Sanlu
brand milk powders in a supermarket in Yinchuan, capital of northwest
China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Sept. 17, 2008. (Xinhua/Liu
Quanlong)
Photo
Gallery>>> |
Quality watchdog cancels inspection
exemptions for food
producers
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A doctor gives medical examination to a child with kidney diseases at the Gansu Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, Sept. 18, 2008. (Xinhua/Liu Quanlong)
Photo Gallery>>> |
BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- In the wake of the contaminated baby milk powder scandal, Chinese quality watchdog on Wednesday cancelled all kinds of national inspection exemptions previously given to food producers.
"Considering the particular characteristics of food
products and the complexity in the cause of food safety problems, and with a
view to further enhancing supervision over food producers, ensuring food safety
and protecting consumers' interests," said the State Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in an explanation of the move.
Most liquid milk in China does not
contain melamine
BEIJING,
Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Most liquid milk on the market did not contain melamine and
was safe to drink, Chinese quality watchdog said on Thursday following a
nationwide special check on the chemical.
The chemical was first found in a top powder milk brand,
Sanlu, earlier this month that caused kidney stones and kidney failure among
babies.
China's cabinet orders inspections,
reform of dairy industry
BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- An executive meeting of the
State Council (cabinet), presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, on Wednesday
decided to launch national comprehensive tests of dairy products and reform the
dairy industry.
According to the meeting, the incident involving the
tainted Sanlu milk powder reflected chaotic industry conditions, as well as
loopholes in the supervision and management of the industry.
Full story
Another official sacked; company
chairwoman detained in China milk scandal
SHIJIAZHUANG, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Another official
in the northern Chinese city of Shijiazhuang has been sacked as a baby formula
contamination scandal spreads in the country.
Ji Chuntang was removed from his post as vice secretary of
the Shijiazhuang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Full story
China to adjust infant formula
standard
BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- China will adjust its baby
formula standards to allow tests of poisonous substances such as melamine, said
the country's quality watchdog on Wednesday.
Li Changjiang, head of the State Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said melamine tests were not
conducted before because it is not allowed in food. Full story
China arrests 12 more suspects in
tainted milk scandal
SHIJIAZHUANG, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Police arrested 12 more people in an early
morning Hebei Province sweep on Thursday amid an intensifying crackdown
involving tainted milk powder that has killed three infants and sickened 6,244
others.
Shi Guizhong, spokesman for the Hebei Provincial Security
Department, said 18 suspects have been formally arrested so far. Ten others were
detained.
Mayor of Shijiazhuang sacked over
tainted milk powder scandal
SHIJIAZHUANG, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The mayor of Shijiazhuang, capital of north
China's Hebei Province, was sacked here on Thursday over a tainted milk powder
scandal.
The dismissal of Ji Chuntang was made at the local
legislature, one day after Ji was removed from his post as vice secretary of the
Shijiazhuang Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
China seizes 22 companies with
contaminated baby milk
powder
BEIJING, Sept. 16
(Xinhua) -- Chinese inspectors have found the chemical melamine in 69 batches of
baby milk powder produced by 22 companies nationwide, the country's quality
watchdog said late on Tuesday.
The authorities ordered a halt to the sale of the tainted
products which included such well-known brands as Sanlu, Mengniu, Yili and
Yashili, among others.
China pledges to treat all tainted
milk-affected babies
BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's Health Ministry
pledged free health care for all babies sickened after drinking contaminated
formula. It will also send medical experts to local clinics to assist with
treatments.
The ministry organized a 34 person team, composed of five
pediatricians, seven urologists, 10 nephrologists, or kidney specialists, and 12
ultrasonographers.
Officials, company manager sacked
following baby milk powder
scandal
SHIJIAZHUANG, Sept.
16 (Xinhua) -- Four local officials in north China's Hebei Province were fired
on Tuesday following the baby milk powder scandal across the country.
Zhang Fawang, vice mayor in charge of agricultural
production of Hebei provincial capital Shijiazhuang, and Sun Renhu, the city's
animal husbandry administration chief, were fired late Tuesday following legal
procedures, according to a decision made by the city's legislative body.
China inspects dairy industry after
milk powder scandal
BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of
Agriculture launched an inspection of the country's dairy industry on Monday
after tainted milk powder sickened babies and aroused concern.
Six ministry teams were dispatched to the country's
six major milk-producing regions, including Beijing, Hebei, Inner Mongolia and
Heilongjiang in the north, Xinjiang in the west and the central Henan Province.
Full story
China to destroy 10,000 tons of
tainted baby formula
SHIJIAZHUANG, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 10,000
tons of baby formula that was seized and recalled in the Sanlu milk powder
contamination scandal will be destroyed, said the government of Shijiazhuang,
capital of north China's Hebei Province, on Monday.
Authorities have so far seized 2,176 tons of milk
powder in the warehouse of Sanlu Group, producer of the milk powder that gave
kidney stones to hundreds of infants across the country, and recalled 8,218 tons
that had been on the market, said Shijiazhuang Vice Mayor Li Jinlu. Full story
