U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt confirmed on May 16 that the U.S. will bar Chinese companies that don't meet product-quality certification standards from the U.S. market.

Mr. Leavitt said regulators can't possibly inspect the $2 trillion of goods the U.S. will likely import this year as supply chains become more global. Instead, he said, companies and countries need voluntarily to police themselves or get punished by market forces.

"If you want access to American consumers, you need to meet our standards," said Mr. Leavitt, who is visiting China to meet with government officials in the wake of recalls of tainted Chinese products over the past year.

In December 2007, Mr. Leavitt signed agreements with Chinese regulators that were intended to increase certification and regulation of exporters and to close loopholes that have allowed Chinese companies to export unsafe food, drugs and other products.

Mr. Leavitt said he is meeting with his Chinese counterparts from several agencies to implement the agreements. On May 15, He met Chinese SFDA Commissioner Shao Mingli in Beijing and discussed a range of issues with Shao including the implementation of the US-China agreements on safety of drugs and medical devices, collaboration of both parties on the recent heparin issue, and regulation of chemicals that can be used to make active pharmaceutical ingredients. 

Following the meeting, the Chinese SFDA website reported that Mr. Leavitt commented positively about the cooperation between the two countries under the above-mentioned agreements, and he expressed the hope to sign the action plan for these agreements during the fourth Sino-US strategic economic dialogue to be held between June 20 and 21 in Washington. 

Mr. Leavitt said both sides are making progress in establishing an FDA office in China that would allow regulators to work more closely, especially when a crisis arises.