Chinese slam safety violations

It's a crackdown, they promise. Chinese regulators have arrested 774 people over the last two months for violations of food and drug safety rules. They've also destroyed 1,000 tons of counterfeit products and instituted a new quality standard for pharmaceuticals licensing.

Such are the statistics halfway through China's four-month crusade against companies turning out toxic products. Bent on proving to the world that its exports are safe, the country is sweeping up violators and working with American and European officials to devise ways to detect unsafe products before they reach the market.

Given that China supplies active ingredients for drugs--and increasingly is making the drugs themselves--the cleanup is crucial to the drug industry. Without confidence in the Made in China label, consumers won't stake their health on meds manufactured there.

- read about new drug-licensing procedures
- check out the NY Times report on the arrests

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