CHINA: China plays down its food safety problem, and executes ex-drug and food safety chief Zheng Xiaoyu amid health scandals

Chinese officials say food safety has improved in recent years but admit that it still has a long way to go. China also executes a former drug and food safety chief amid health scandals. China said on Tuesday (July 10) that the overall safety of its food market had improved in recent years, while admitting it still faces a grim situation. China's safety problems have drawn worldwide attention since mislabeled chemical exports were found in cough syrup in Panama and pet food in the United States. There have been a series of recalls and bans on items ranging from toys to toothpaste. Recently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would not allow imports of Chinese farm-raised seafood unless suppliers could prove the shipments held no harmful residues. Chinese officials played down the problems, saying the overall situation had been improved in recent years. "According to results of our investigation so far, those incidents are individual cases, such as the pet food incident you just mentioned. They are just some unlicensed manufacturers that are operating illegally," said Lin Wei, deputy director of import and export food safety bureau of China's Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. China has tried to rein in substandard food and drug makers, and just last month a government agency said it shut down 152,000 food processors in 2006 alone. Beijing said it had taken effective measures to guarantee safety of the food market during the 2008 Olympic Games. "All the relevant departments within the State Administration for Industry and Commerce have taken thorough supervising measures in the process of quality check, distribution and recall to ensure safety of the food market during the Beijing Olympic Games," said Sun Wenxu, deputy director of the Consumer Protection Bureau of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. Meanwhile, China executed a former drug and food safety chief on Tuesday for corruption and dereliction of duty in an unusually swift sentence which will serve as a warning to officials amid a series of health scandals. Yan Jiangying, spokeswoman for the food and drug administration, said the case had bought only shame to the watchdog. "Those members of the Administration violated the law and discipline, and brought shame to our system," said Yan. "This also exposes some serious problems. The implications it has are that it makes us seriously reflect on what lessons we can draw from it, how to avoid it from happening in our future work, and how to make sure our work serves its due purpose of watching out for the people." The Supreme People's Court approved the death sentence against Zheng Xiaoyu, 62, who was convicted of taking bribes worth some 6.5 million yuan (850,000 U.S. dollars) from eight pharmaceutical companies, Xinhua news agency said. Zheng, head of the State Food and Drug Administration from 1998 to 2005, was sentenced on May 29 and his appeal was heard last month. His execution marked the first time China has imposed a death sentence on an official of his rank since 2000.

ITN Source | July 10, 2007

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