China will inspect fishing farms across the country to control the use of illegal drugs and chemicals. This move is a part of Beijing's great campaign to regain its product prestige on the international market.
This information was announced on China Daily newspaper at the time when a team of U.S. health officials met with Chinese officials to discuss stepping up controls on two-way food and drug exports and increasing cooperation.

Beijing has said the talks will also focus on a block on Chinese catfish, basa, dace, shrimp and eel imposed after repeated testing turned up contamination with drugs that have been banned in the United States for farmed seafood.

According to Chen Yide, vice-director of the Ministry of Agriculture's fisheries bureau, the new measures include eradicating banned antibiotic abuse, blacklisting violators and offering better education and training for producers. Mr Chen blamed drug residues found in seafood on unscrupulous producers and insisted on Beijing's stance that U.S. restrictions on the five types of seafood were “discriminate” and “unacceptable”.

It's against the rules of the World Trade Organization to block all products for problems found in individual products.

He added that 95 percent of Chinese aquatic products met food safety standards, with a higher percentage of export products qualifying because of tougher inspection regulations. International concerns over Chinese exports have been mounting since a pet food ingredient from China was blamed in the deaths of cats and dogs in North America, triggering recalls and bans around the world, including on toothpaste, tyre and fruit juice.

In the past two weeks, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has rejected six Chinese-made products, from Easy-Bake ovens, whose doors trapped dozens of children's fingers or burned them, to remote-control airplanes that can potentially explode.

While the Chinese government was initially leery of acknowledging its problems with food and drug safety, it has since announced new measures, regulations and inspections almost daily. A regulation introduced in July 31 in Beijing will hold district and county governments in the capital responsible for food safety violations.

Legal measures will be taken if there are food-related fatalities and blame will be placed on food manufacturers and sellers if they hide lie or delay the reports of accidents to ATTP.

China is trying to keep its lucrative but poorly regulated pharmaceutical industry under stricter surveillance.