(HHS: Washington) -- As part of an ongoing strategy to address the food safety issues in China and the United States, and to share ideas to address global food safety, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) opened its first office in Beijing, China, on Nov. 19, 2008. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, Michael O. Leavitt, and FDA commissioner, Andrew C. von Eschenbach, will then proceed to open FDA offices in Guangzhou and Shanghai, and will introduce some of the new FDA staff members assigned to China.

“A permanent FDA presence in China will help us address the challenges presented by globalization,” says von Eschenbach. “We look forward to working with the Chinese government and manufacturers to ensure that FDA standards for safety and manufacturing quality are met before products ship to the United States.”

During the second workshop, technical and scientific experts from FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Chinese Ministry of Health, as well as the Chinese General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, will address the evaluation of, response to, and treatment of melamine contamination and other food-borne outbreaks. They also will exchange the latest scientific data on the toxicity of melamine in humans.

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