US Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt held a high level discussion on import safety with AmCham-China members and the international media at Beijing's Capital Club.  Secretary Leavitt discussed the two new 'Memorandum of Agreement' (MOA) documents signed with the PRC government as part of the Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) and Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT).

The first MOA, signed with China's SFDA, focuses on drug and medical devices safety issues. The second MOA, signed with China's AQSIQ, addresses food and seed safety concerns.

Secretary Leavitt also presented the Action Plan for Import Safety: A roadmap for continual improvement, which was developed by the Interagency Working Group on Import Safety and was presented to President George Bush. The interagency working group is comprised of members from 12 different US agencies and their roadmap provides 14 broad recommendations and 50 specific action steps.  

United States FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach was also in attendance and answered AmCham members' questions about the FDA's new Food Safety Action Plan.