U.S., China to discuss food and drug exports

BEIJING — A team of U.S. health officials came to Beijing on Tuesday for talks on tightening controls over food and drug trade, amid tensions triggered by U.S. restrictions on questionable — and sometimes dangerous — Chinese products.

China complains that some recent U.S. actions against its exports have been unnecessary and blames the international media for blowing concerns about its product safety record out of proportion.

The U.S. delegation, led by Department of Health and Human Services official Rich McKeown, will discuss ways to improve the flow of information and devise regulations both sides can be confident in, Mike Leavitt, secretary of the department, said in a statement issued prior to the group's arrival.

They will focus on developing agreements on the safety of food, drugs and medical devices, hopefully to be completed by December.

"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," Leavitt said in the statement.

"We believe that with the technology, the scientific expertise and the commitment each side has, we can work together to correct the outstanding issues," he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing confirmed the arrival of the delegation but did not give any details on the itinerary or agenda for the five-day visit.

An official with China's General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the chief body for monitoring product safety, said Tuesday that a vice minister will meet the U.S. team.

Chinese officials have said the talks would also focus on U.S. restrictions imposed on fish imports including catfish, shrimp and eel imposed after repeated testing turned up contamination with drugs that have not been approved in the U.S. for farmed seafood.

China last month criticized the new restrictions as "indiscriminate" and "unacceptable? and urged closer cooperation on food safety between the two sides.

Earlier this month, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang warned the media against exaggerating China's food safety problems and stirring consumer panic.

International worries about Chinese exports were triggered earlier this year when a pet food ingredient from China was linked to the deaths of cats and dogs in North America.