By Zhu Zhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-08-04 17:43

China and the United States will increase cooperation and the exchange of information on food and drug safety, the US health chief Mike Leavitt said in a statement issued on Friday.

The statement, the result of a five-day meeting in Beijing, said the US will offer Chinese quality inspectors technical assistance to address food and drugs safety problems.

The US will also help a Chinese firm, which is currently under an import alert, take the appropriate steps to have the alert removed.

"If successful, this approach could be a model for other firms affected by import alerts," Leavitt, the US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), said in the statement.

He said after the US delegation met officials from relevant Chinese government departments, including the General Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) and the Ministry of Health, the sides agreed initial frameworks for two Memoranda of Agreement.

One is on the safety of food and feed, and the other on the safety of drugs and medical devices.

Leavitt said the MOAs aim to increase cooperation and information sharing.

"I am optimistic about our initial progress with our Chinese colleagues, and I am hopeful the next series of bilateral meetings later this month, in Beijing, will keep us moving forward," said the US official.

The AQSIQ also said in a statement released on Thursday that China would like to "work together with the US to strengthen cooperation and communication" in matters of mutual concern.

It said the two sides had discussed specific issues of concern, including the US import alert on five seafood products from China.

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