China will spend 8.8 billion yuan ($1.16 billion) to improve
food and drug supervision, the industry watchdog announced
yesterday.
The money will mainly be spent on building or upgrading
infrastructure which will be in place by 2010, State Food and Drug
Administration (SFDA) spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said.
Yan also announced that the SFDA will hold press conferences
every two weeks to brief the media on the food security situation.
During the first regular briefing on July 11, Yan admitted the
country's food and drug situation was unsatisfactory and vowed to
improve it.
To that end, the central and provincial watchdogs will get more
teeth, Yan said.
"They are authorized to seal factories, arrange spot checks, and
seize whatever material they need when probing sub-standard
goods."
Yan listed several projects for which the government funds will
be used, including the upgrading of the 16 centers to test imported
drugs as well as the National Center for Medical Devices Testing
and relocation of the National Institute for the Control of
Pharmaceutical and Biological Products.
"The current infrastructure and technology of China's food and
drug supervision system lags behind what is needed, especially in
the western regions," Yan said.
"With this investment, China will comprehensively improve the
infrastructure and technology for food and drug administration in
three to five years," said Yan.
(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2007)