New food export regulations unveiled

From September, all food exported from China must carry an inspection and quarantine symbol to guarantee safety, according to new rules announced by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). Small-scale producers will also have to take measures to meet hygiene standards or face closure, AP reported. The regulations, published a day after former SFDA head Zheng Xiaoyu was executed for taking bribes to approve untested medicines, are intended to tighten up enforcement and remove corruption. It is hoped that this will restore China's reputation in the eyes of its major trading partners following blacklisting of many China-made products in recent months that were found to be tainted. Official estimates put the number of food processing businesses in China at 448,000. Of those, 353,000 have 10 employees or fewer and 223,287 are not properly certified. It is suggested that the regulatory crackdown could see the total halved by 2009. Regulators also took further action against toothpaste companies, banning the use of dietheylene glycol, a thickening agent used in antifreeze, state media reported on Wednesday.