News Release

Statement by Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services, on the United States-China Bilateral Meetings on Food and Drug Safety

This week in Beijing, a delegation of senior HHS and Food and Drug Administration officials, led by my Chief of Staff, Rich McKeown, held a series of initial negotiations with senior officials from a number of agencies in the Government of the People’s Republic of China.  These agencies included the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration; the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine; the Ministries of Health and Agriculture; and the Certification and Accreditation Administration.

These sessions initiated formal negotiations on two Agreements, one on the safety of food and feed, and another on the safety of drugs and medical devices.  The draft Agreements aim to create a framework to help assure the safety, quality and effectiveness of products exported from China to the United States. 

I am pleased to report that this week’s talks have yielded significant progress in helping us move towards our goal of achieving two, strong, action-oriented documents by December. I am optimistic about our progress with our Chinese colleagues, and we look forward to continuing the ongoing negotiations next month. 

###

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.

Last revised: August 29, 2008