U.S. advances menu of food safety steps for China

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration proposed new steps on Thursday it says China must take to ensure the safety of food and other exports, but it remained unclear if the measures would be embraced by Beijing.

Senior health and agriculture officials presented their plan to a visiting Chinese delegation, pressing China to create a registry of Chinese firms authorized to export to the United States, for permission to send U.S. inspectors to China and for a crackdown on exporters using unauthorized chemicals.

"Any nation that doesn't create an atmosphere of trust with consumers and customers, they will be disadvantaged quickly in the world market," Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said after meeting with Chinese officials.

Food safety was spotlighted in U.S.-China talks this week after melamine, a chemical used in plastics and fertilizers, surfaced in U.S. pet food this year, killing pets and prompting wide recalls.

Facing wide outcry, U.S. officials also want to see further investigation and tests related to melamine and reportedly tainted toothpaste exported from China to Latin America and the Caribbean.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said he was encouraged by talks this week about food safety. But officials said the visiting officials had so far neither accepted or rejected their plan.

China is moving to stem fears at home and abroad about the safety of all sort of products; it also is investigating some of the most notorious cases and is seeking to bolster oversight ahead of the Beijing Olympics next year.

Just this week, the Food and Drug Administration announced it would begin inspecting all imports of Chinese toothpaste.

"There is no evidence that any of the toothpaste in question has come to the United States. This testing we're doing is purely precautionary," Leavitt said.