US wants FDA inspectors stationed in India

Washington: The Bush administration has said it wants officials from its Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be stationed in India to check the safety of food products bound for the US, and has started initiating talks with New Delhi on the issue.

The regulatory body's presence in India was necessary given the fact that more FDA approvals are coming out of India than any other country in the world other than the US, Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt said here, adding "It won't happen overnite. But it is a high priority."

Speaking at a meeting hosted the United States India Business Council, Leavitt, who was recently on a five-day visit to India, announced that the FDA is to begin carrying out checks on Chinese food products.

He said the FDA will create eight new positions at US diplomatic missions throughout China over the next two years which will be contingent upon final approval from Beijing.

"We have also initiated conversations with the Indian Government on the need to have similar kinds of officers in India," Leavitt said.

"We did not reach agreement; we did not seek an agreement; we are not actively negotiating. But we did make clear that part of our plan in the future would be to work toward that..." the senior administration official said.

He said product-safety problem is the natural consequence of a maturing of the global marketplace and a direct reflection of the profound growth in the amount of trade between nations.