China milk scandal: Asia, Europe tighten controls (Correction)

Sep 25, 2008, 16:16 GMT

Bangkok - Concern amid China's contaminated milk scandal continued to grow Thursday as several more Asian countries and the European Union sought to take precautionary action.

India and South Korea on Thursday banned the import of milk and milk products from China after reports that they might be contaminated with toxic chemicals.

The European Union would bring in tight controls on imported Chinese foods in the wake of the scandal, officials in Brussels said Thursday.

As of Friday, the 27-member EU bloc is to ban the import of all baby foods which contain any trace of milk products, and impose compulsory testing on any food which consists of more than 15 per cent milk powder, European Commission spokeswoman Nina Papadoulaki said.

Foods which are already on the EU market will be subject to random testing, she said. Products in the EU that were likely to be hit by the measures include biscuits and chocolate. The tests necessary to establish whether any consignment is contaminated can take two to three days, Papadoulaki said.

The move is the EU's latest response to the scandal of milk which has already led to a ban on Chinese milk exports to countries such as Malaysia and Cambodia.

Officials in Brussels stress that the EU does not import milk products from China owing to insufficient health guarantees, and that the current measures are 'purely precautionary.'

 Chinese authorities acknowledged last week that melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers, had been found in milk processed by three major Chinese dairy companies. It was added to boost the milk's protein content and fetch higher prices when sold to manufacturers.

   Four Chinese infants have died of melamine-induced kidney diseases, and at least 53,000 have fallen ill.

South Korea on Thursday also recalled two snacks found to contain the chemical melamine, which has caused kidney damage to thousands of Chinese babies.

   The Korea Food and Drug Administration meanwhile also ordered the recall of Misarang Custard cake from China and Milk Rusk cookies imported from Hong Kong after some of the products on South Korean store shelves were found to contain melamine.

   The administration said the import ban would be kept 'until the safety of Chinese food products is ensured.'

   More than a dozen countries have banned or recalled Chinese dairy products.

China Thursday approved Taiwan's request to send a delegation to China to investigate the scandal because contaminated Chinese diary products have been exported to Taiwan, an official said.

The latest development came as Taiwan's Health Minister Lin Fang- yue resigned to take responsibility over the public outcry over policy reversal by health authorities in dealing with the Chinese milk crisis.

In a news conference in Taipei, Lin said he tendered his resignation to Premier Liu Chao-shiun to take the blame over the Health Ministry's decision to relax the inspection criteria in examining whether local foodstuffs have contained melamine-tainted ingredients imported from China.

'I feel sorry for creating such a misunderstanding and worries because of the different inspection results,' he said.

   Kao Kung-lien, secretary general of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), had earlier told reporters that Li Yafei, secretary general of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), confirmed Beijing's approval to his Taiwan counterpart.

   ARATS and SEF are semi-official agencies that handle cross-strait ties in the absence of formal relations.

   Taiwan government spokeswoman Shih Ya-ping said the Taiwan delegation would have five members, including toxicologists, kidney experts and public health officials.

   Taiwan has imported at least 25 tons of milk powder tainted with melamine made by the Sanlu Group and a large amount of other diary and food products produced by other Chinese companies.

   China's tainted milk has caused worry in Taiwan, but so far, no illnesses or deaths have been known to be caused by it.

   Taiwan has banned the import of Chinese dairy and food products and said it would lift the ban when China can ensure the safety of its food exports.

   India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Thursday issued a notification also prohibiting the import of dairy products from China with immediate effect for three months.

The Spanish Agency of Food and Nutrition Security Thursday recommended to regional authorities to step up controls on Chinese products, though Spain does not import milk products from China.

   Spanish consumer association FACUA on Thursday reported the sale of White Rabbit Chinese sweets, which New Zealand has withdrawn from the market, in the southern city of Seville.

Britain's Food Standard's Agency (FSA) Thursday said it had no evidence of contaminated products from China entering the British market.

'There is no evidence that any products containing the affected milk products have made it to the UK. But industry and the FSA are well placed to take action if any are found,' said a spokesman.

Earlier this week, supermarket chain Tesco withdrew a brand of Chinese sweets on the advice of the FSA following reports that they contain melamine.

But the FSA spokesman said the decision to ask retailers to withdraw Chinese White Rabbit Creamy Candies was a precaution.