Chinese central government is sending teams of officials after a contaminated baby milk scandal to make sure the investigation is carried out properly.
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) Sunday sent working groups to Hebei, Guangdong, and Heilongjiang provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to inspect diary product companies.
The working groups to the four localities, where many dairy product companies are, aim to ensure local quality authorities do their job properly.
"They would also join hands with local market watchdogs to remove all the sub-standard milk powder from sale", said the GAQSIQ.
On Saturday evening the State Administration for Industry and Commerce ordered that all the Sanlu brand baby milk powder manufactured before Aug. 6 should be immediately removed from sale.
The Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer based in northern Hebei Province, admitted Friday that it had found some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated with melamine, a chemical raw material. It issued an immediate recall of milk formula made before Aug. 6.
The provincial government has ordered a halt of production of the Sanlu Group. The contamination has caused kidney stones of at least 432 babies.
(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2008)