U.S., China announce product-safety plan

The United States and China are working to strengthen measures to ensure products imported into the U.S. are safe -- a daunting task that will take a huge commitment from Beijing to work.

The announcement of the new product safety initiative comes a day before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration opens the first of its three offices in China and its first outside the United States.

Worries about the quality of Chinese exports have become a major feature of bilateral trade ties, with substandard Chinese food and toxin-laced toothpaste among product safety scares this past year.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said a new strategy was needed because the United States imported $2 trillion worth of goods this year.

"We have to change our strategy from one of simple inspections at the border," he said. "We have to build quality into every product in every step of the process."

The first FDA office will be opened today in Beijing, followed by one in Guangzhou and another in Shanghai. They will be followed by offices in India and Latin America by the end of the year.