The Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday ordered national agricultural, animal husbandry and veterinary departments to safeguard the interests of dairy farmers and stabilize milk production.

The ministry issued an emergency circular against the backdrop of dairy farmers discarding milk over the past few days as a result of the tainted-baby-formula scandal in such major milk-producing regions as Hebei, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Shandong.

The circular said normal purchases of fresh milk should be ensured, smaller enterprises should be encouraged to buy more fresh milk and dairy-product makers should fulfill contracts on milk buying.

Fresh-milk tests and purchase procedures should be accelerated, and milk-collection order maintained, the circular said. "No milk collection should be stopped or restricted," it said.

Melamine-contaminated baby formula has killed at least four infants and left more than 53,000 with ailments, including kidney stones. About 13,000 are still being treated in hospitals.

Quality sample checks have covered major brands including Sanlu, Mengniu, Yili, Bright and Sanyuan.

(Shanghai Daily September 26, 2008)