sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Statement by Mike Leavitt
Secretary of Health and Human Services
On the United States-China Bilateral Meetings on Food and Drug Safety
Following the second U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) in May
of this year, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and I and other
representatives of the U.S. Government met with representatives of the
Government of the People's Republic of China to request rapid action to
accomplish certain goals related to the safety of food and drugs. We
emphasized the need for three things: to have better cooperation, to
have better information, and to have the Chinese devise and enforce
regulations that we can understand, with which we agree and in which we
feel confident.
As a follow-up to those discussions, our two countries have committed to
a series of bilateral meetings in the coming months on food and drug
safety. Today, I am sending my Chief of Staff on a fact-finding mission
to Beijing to pave the way for us to open discussions on developing two
Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) between our two governments, one on the
safety of food and feed, and one on the safety of drugs and medical
devices.
This week's meetings, those to follow, and the MOAs we hope to develop
are important steps forward in addressing problems with food and other
imports from China, which investigations by the Food and Drug
Administration within my department have brought to light. Our U.S.
regulatory agencies are concerned about what they see as an insufficient
infrastructure across the board in China to assure the safety, quality
and effectiveness of many products exported to the United States.
I am hopeful that we can achieve two, strong, action-oriented documents
by December. We believe that with the technology, the scientific
expertise, and the commitment each side has, we can work together to
correct the outstanding issues.
While the Cabinet-level Working Group on Import Safety the President has
asked me to chair is not focused just on China or on food and drugs, I
am sure what my team learns on its trip this week will feed into the
recommendations the working group will make to the President in
September.
</pre>
Secretary of Health and Human Services
On the United States-China Bilateral Meetings on Food and Drug Safety
Following the second U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) in May
of this year, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and I and other
representatives of the U.S. Government met with representatives of the
Government of the People's Republic of China to request rapid action to
accomplish certain goals related to the safety of food and drugs. We
emphasized the need for three things: to have better cooperation, to
have better information, and to have the Chinese devise and enforce
regulations that we can understand, with which we agree and in which we
feel confident.
As a follow-up to those discussions, our two countries have committed to
a series of bilateral meetings in the coming months on food and drug
safety. Today, I am sending my Chief of Staff on a fact-finding mission
to Beijing to pave the way for us to open discussions on developing two
Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) between our two governments, one on the
safety of food and feed, and one on the safety of drugs and medical
devices.
This week's meetings, those to follow, and the MOAs we hope to develop
are important steps forward in addressing problems with food and other
imports from China, which investigations by the Food and Drug
Administration within my department have brought to light. Our U.S.
regulatory agencies are concerned about what they see as an insufficient
infrastructure across the board in China to assure the safety, quality
and effectiveness of many products exported to the United States.
I am hopeful that we can achieve two, strong, action-oriented documents
by December. We believe that with the technology, the scientific
expertise, and the commitment each side has, we can work together to
correct the outstanding issues.
While the Cabinet-level Working Group on Import Safety the President has
asked me to chair is not focused just on China or on food and drugs, I
am sure what my team learns on its trip this week will feed into the
recommendations the working group will make to the President in
September.
</pre>