China Strengthens Management Control on Precursor Chemicals    

On August 10th, 2009 the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Customs, the State Administration for Industry & Commerce, the State Administration of Work Safety and the State Food and Drug Administration jointly promulgated a regulation, requiring the related administrative departments to further strengthen management control on precursor chemicals production and trade.
   The regulation requires that the public security departments, the customs departments and the work safety departments at all levels should establish joint control group for management cooperation on precursor chemicals.
   The regulation emphasizes that the drug supervision departments shall pay special attention to the management control on the production and operation of ephedrine and its compound formulations. Work safety administrative departments shall strictly control the production and operation of 3, 4-methylenedioxyphenyl-2-propanone, 1-phenyl-2-propanone and hydroxylimine, and shall strengthen supervision over and inspection on the acetic anhydride manufactures and trade enterprises. Enterprises in illegal manufacturing and trading will be prosecuted and severely punished.
   It also requires that the public security departments shall make efforts to trace the delivery of precursor chemicals between provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, especially those being transported into Guangdong, Yunnan, Fujian and Hunan provinces and Xinjiang region with high incidence of drugs production and trafficking.