Rules for infant formula tightened

China's food and drug authority on Wednesday released a set of revised regulations for domestic infant formula producers, and experts said it could lead to a shake-up in the sector.

The new set of regulations involves stricter standards for domestic infant formula production.

All companies that produce infant formula in China must pass a review before May 31, 2014 or they will have to halt production and make rectifications, the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) said Wednesday.

As the threshold for the sector is being raised, some small and medium-sized infant formula producers may get squeezed out, said Chen -Lianfang, a dairy industry analyst at Beijing Orient Agribusiness Consultants.

"Around one-third of the domestic baby formula producers may have to leave the sector," Chen told the Global Times Wednesday.

This has been the third announcement the CFDA has made about the infant formula sector during the past week. On December 18, the CFDA said that consumers would be entitled to seek compensation from infant formula retailers if any quality problems are found with the products.

Also on the same day, the admi-nistration released detailed rules for a trial program that allows drugstores to sell infant formula.

"These moves are also a reflection that the government is attaching greater importance to food security," said Chen.

The regulations announced Wednesday raised requirements for infant formula producers in nine -areas, including quality control, material procurement, manufacturing techniques and product traceability.

The CFDA said that production of infant formula will take production standards in the pharmaceutical sector as a reference, in order to guarantee better quality.

For infant formula producers that do not pass the review before the May 31 deadline, a two-year transition period will be offered for them to rectify their production process, Ma Chunliang, an official at the CFDA, said at a press conference held in Beijing Wednesday.

"I believe that the quality of domestically produced infant formula will be greatly improved after the implementation of the new standards," Song Liang, an industry analyst with the Distribution Productivity Promotion Center of China Commerce, told the Global Times Wednesday.

Song noted that domestic infant formula producers will be under "great pressure" in the short term and though some smaller companies may get weeded out, the new regulations will be beneficial for the long-term development of the sector.

Even though stricter standards may mean higher costs and a drop in the number of companies operating in the infant formula sector, Song said the new regulations were not likely to disturb the supply and price of baby formula products.

Ma also said at the Wednesday press conference that supply will not be affected by the new regulations.

The regulations also demand that infant formula firms should assume primary liability for quality problems, and producers should set up a digital record system to ensure that every step of the production process is traceable, according to the CFDA.

Companies must also set up a consumer complaint system so that consumers' voices can be heard.

Making the production process traceable can guarantee that "quality problems will be found in a timely manner," Song said.

He also noted that stricter rules in the sector could help -consumers regain their faith in domestically produced infant formula, which was -badly damaged by a scandal over -tainted milk in 2008.

Han Fengye, a 27-year-old woman in Beijing who is expecting a baby in July next year, said that it is definitely a good thing that the government is trying to improve baby formula quality.

"But I'm still not sure that I will choose domestic infant formula for my baby. I still doubt that the quality of domestic products is as good as imported products," she told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily said that many infant formula producers, including Mengniu, Dumex and Nestle, were invited to the CFDA meeting Wednesday.

He Tong, a spokeswoman for Nestle China, told the Global Times Wednesday that the company supports the new measures and will always cooperate with the government.