China's SFDA will recall problem drugs faster

China's State Food and Drug Administration has announced a draft action plan to improve drug safety by withdrawing potentially hazardous products from the market "at the first sign of a problem," the China Daily reports. Yan Jiangying, a spokeswoman for the agency, said that drugmakers would be required to recall products before laboratory tests were complete.

The SFDA explained current delays in removing hazardous products on the previous policy of awaiting laboratory testing before any action was taken by the authorities. Ms Yan also told a press conference that, following a recent inspections, "we found no serious violation of laws or regulations and most manufacturers have strictly abided by the Good Manufacturing Practice."

The inspections followed recent action when about 2,000 bottles of fake blood protein were discovered at 18 hospitals and 39 retail and wholesale drug outlets in the northeastern China province of Jilin (Marketletter June 18). The Chinese government has admitted there is a shortage of plasma protein in the country, but insists that a ban on imports in place since the mid-1980s will remain in force.