Direct sales watch intensifies

With only a month to go before the draft direct-sales law is to be reviewed at a Ministry of Commerce conference, regulators said they have stepped up efforts to stamp out illegal direct-selling activities, especially any linked to pyramid sales, �which has wreaked much havoc in the country," according to a State Administration of Commerce and Industry spokesman quoted by state media. The draft law is expected to get a final going over on September 8 at a conference in Xiamen in Fujian province. Amway, Avon and other US direct sellers have been lobbying hard for reinstatement of door-to-door sales, which were banned in 1998.