Fact Sheet on Actions Requested of The People’s Republic of China By The U.S. Government to Address the Safety of Food and Feed

On May 22-24, 2007 representatives of the United States Government met with representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China to request rapid action to accomplish certain goals related to food safety, as outlined below. U.S. representatives presented this request during several bilateral sessions conducted in conjunction with the second cabinet-level meeting under the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) in Washington D.C.

• Detailed information about the Chinese government’s procedures, methodology, and technology for testing and quarantine, as well as information about its control measures;
• Raw data and the results of the testing by Chinese government entities of regulated products;
• The results of all tests for melamine in ingredients destined for human or animal consumption, on an ongoing basis;
• The imposition of a requirement for mandatory registration of Chinese firms that intend to export food and feed products to the U.S.;
• The prohibition of export to the U.S. of products from unregistered firms;
• The publication of a list of all registered Chinese firms and the periodic updating of such a list;
• The clearances necessary, including multi-year, multi-entry visas, for personnel from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct inspections in China, as determined necessary to protect public health in the U.S.;
• The clearances necessary for HHS/FDA to conduct systems audits to confirm the registered Chinese firms meet U.S. government food-safety requirements.

These actions do not relate to meat, poultry and egg products, which are regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).  USDA has legal authority under which it establishes protocols for reviewing meat, poultry and egg systems. USDA conducts inspections, verification and performs certification in other countries before firms can export meat, poultry and egg products to the U.S.

Although China is not currently exporting meat, poultry or eggs to the U.S., USDA has several established agreements with Chinese ministries in the area of food safety. One such agreement is a non-binding Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) with the Chinese General Administration for Quality, Safety Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ). USDA asked AQSIQ to agree to elevate this MOC to a legally binding document.

Not all Chinese ministries involved in food safety were represented in the delegation that traveled to the U.S. this week.  Therefore, HHS and USDA asked the delegation to relay these requests to all relevant ministries and rapidly report back.