Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said on Sunday that it would carry out special quality inspections on fresh milk and cow feedstuff nationwide in the wake of the contaminated baby milk powder scandal.

"The inspection will take place in 50 counties in major dairy product manufacturing areas including Beijing, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shaanxi and Heilongjiang provinces," said the ministry in a web statement.

However, the ministry did not specify how long the inspections would last. Punishments will be severe, said the ministry, but it did not specify what they would be.

After the Sanlu baby milk powder scandal, the MOA had immediately ordered its local agencies nationwide to establish special inspection working groups to strengthen quality check to prevent any sub-standard fresh milk from sale.

The Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer based in northern Hebei Province, admitted Friday that it had found some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated with melamine, a chemical raw material. It issued an immediate recall of milk formula made before Aug. 6.

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2008)