The Ministry of Agriculture will intensify aquatic product quality regulation next year, publicly releasing quality inspection data, issuing quality inspection marks and monitoring harmful substances in shellfish, a senior official said on Monday.

"The Sanlu milk formula incident offers us all a lesson, and we have to be vigilant of aquatic food safety," deputy minister of agriculture Niu Dun said at an annual aquatic food-production conference.

The melamine incident, which was uncovered in September, affected about 290,000 children, hospitalizing more than 50,000.

Niu said pesticide residue checks will be intensified, and a blacklist of problematic producers will be created.

Thirty-five cases involving the use of illegal chemicals have been investigated this year, and 33 of them have concluded, Niu said, without specifying investigation results.

Major companies have been told to take the lead in pursuing quality over quantity, the ministry said.

The ministry will release a guide in the first quarter, defining the responsibilities of aquatic producers while intensifying product monitoring. Inspection results will also be made public.

The ministry will also identify several categories of products, which have either large production or export volumes, and determine the major quality risks.

However, the ministry said 2008's aquatic product quality has been quite satisfactory, with 95 percent of inspected products meeting national standards.

(China Daily December 30, 2008)