Dairy industry ordered to improve

The fallout continues over melamine-tainted milk powder produced by the Sanlu group in China. Now the country's dairy industry is under strict orders to raise standards to ensure product quality.

The Ministry of Industry and Information is ordering the domestic diary industry to improve quality control. It's also threatened to shut down companies which fail to make improvements.

The country's dairy industry is under strict orders  to raise standards to ensure product quality.

Li Yizhong, the minister of Industry & Info. Technology, said, "Substandard factories must stop production and carry out reforms to meet industry standards. Otherwise, they will have to be closed, merged or forced to go bankrupt. "

The Ministry of Industry and Information has suspended factories considered inadequate, and given them deadlines to resolve their problems. Authorities are also revising product standards for the entire industry, and raising the requirements for manufacturers entering the market.

Meanwhile, the ministry is providing subsidies for those who can prove that what they produce is safe for consumption, but who have suffered weak sales following the recent problem with melamine-tainted diary products. Inspections across the country have so far uncovered up to 8 thousand tons of substandard items, with customers themselves returning as much as 900 tons of products to retailers.