"The reality is, this (food safety) is not a single-country issue at all," Carl R. Nielsen, a FDA veteran who directed the division of import operations and policy in the agency's Office of Regulatory Affairs before retirement, told The New York Times. "What we are experiencing is massive globalization," he said.

Li Changjiang, Minister of AQSIQ, echoed Nielsen's remarks. "Product safety was not only China's concern, but also the common responsibility of all countries," he said.

Considering tens of thousands of small manufacturers in the food industry, maintaining food safety has never been easy for China.

At a press conference on July 20, Li explained how two Chinese food exporters bypassed the government's inspection process, leading to the recall of nearly 100 brands of tainted pet food in the United States in June. He said the two Chinese companies, whose business licenses had been revoked, had "unlawfully added melamine in some of its protein products exported to the United States" and managed to evade quality inspection by mislabeling their products as chemical ingredients, which are not subject to compulsory inspection by customs.

Tightening up

At the press conference, Li said a consistent approach taken by his agency and local governments to guarantee food safety is to rule out any irregularity at the production stage. On July 9, China's quality supervision authorities blacklisted 14 companies for planning to export substandard food products and banned them from further exports.

China is also hammering out a comprehensive surveillance mechanism to guarantee the safety standards for food in the market. Since China's existing food supervision system involves at least five central government departments-AQSIQ, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Health and the State Food and Drug Administration-which are responsible for supervising farming, production and processing, and distribution and selling, China will draft new laws to facilitate cooperation among different government agencies in order to change the overlapping food supervision system, Vice Minister of Health Wang Longde said earlier in July.

Premier Wen Jiabao made a pledge to improve food safety and product quality at a State Council conference on July 25. He said the nation would continue to publicize periodic reports on product information and recall defective products in time. Meanwhile, China would strengthen cooperation with foreign countries in handling the issue and improve law enforcement on product quality problems, he said. The State Council has decided to form a leadership panel for product quality and food safety to help resolve disputes, according to the conference.

The State Council has also drafted a new regulation on the supervision over food safety, which dictated intensified controls over food producers and distributors, increased responsibilities and obligations on the part of the government and more serious punishment on illegal activities.

On the same day, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the launch of a nationwide inspection on forbidden chemicals and drugs used on farms.

"It will mainly target the fishery and husbandry sectors to crack down on the illegal use of forbidden pesticides, animal drugs and chemicals," Zhang Yuxiang, the ministry spokesperson, told a news briefing.

The ministry will also adopt other measures to ensure food safety through establishing pollution-free production bases, checking chemical application on farms, and strengthening certification of quality agriculture products, Zhang said.