A Sino-US food safety testing center begin operations in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, on Wednesday.

The center, said to be the first of its kind in the country, adopts food safety standards that are accepted by the Chinese authorities as well as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The new facility was jointly set up by the US Oregon Department of Agriculture, Zhuhai branch of China Certification and Inspection (Group) Co Ltd, the Peace Synthesis Market of Logistics in Zhuhai and South China Agriculture University.

The results of the center's tests of food samples will be sent to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China.

Foods that have been tested and qualified by the center will be directly exported to the United States and will be exempted from being tested again by the FDA.

"We use a standard that is accepted by both China and the US, so that the export of food will be much easier and faster, and disputes on the trade of farm products between the two countries can be avoided," Chen Zhixiong, general manager of the Peace Synthesis Market of Logistics, told China Daily yesterday.

The facilities and technologies of the testing center are provided by the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

The FDA has dispatched three experts to work for the center and supervise testing procedures.

The center has created a new form of cooperation for international agricultural trade, a marketing manager of the testing center, surnamed, Huang, said.

The center will focus on testing subsidiary agricultural products such as fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood and canned food.

"We welcome other cities or provinces to send their products to the center and to have them tested here," Huang said.

The center is located on the site of the newly built Peace Synthesis Market of Logistics.

Thirteen US states will also set up booths in the market to showcase their agricultural products.

(China Daily June 20, 2008)