BREAKING NEWS
July 11, 2007
China Executes Head of Food, Drug Safety
Officials Retool Regulation
BEIJING -- Moving to address mounting concerns about the safety of its exports, China announced Tuesday that it had executed the former head of its food and drug safety agency for accepting bribes in exchange for approving substandard medicines.
At a news conference, State Food and Drug Administration spokeswoman Yan Jianyang said officials like Zheng Xiaoyu -- who was sentenced to death in May after he was found guilty of accepting cash and gifts worth more than $800,000 -- had brought "shame" to the agency and caused serious problems.
Meanwhile, she acknowledged that the weaknesses in China's food-and-drug monitoring system go far beyond corruption.
The Health Ministry said it would establish a new system that would improve tracking of adverse reactions to food. And the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said it would try to educate consumers and traders not to buy from blacklisted companies that had been found to have problems and that had posted prominently on the agency's Web site.
The consequences of Zheng's misconduct are wide-ranging. He was head of the SFDA from 1998 to 2005, and at least six drugs approved during his tenure turned out to be fakes. One contaminated antibiotic was blamed for killing at least 10 people, including one young girl.
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Chinese Food Fear: Classic Bear Market Starting Point
By: Pete Kendall, July 11, 2007 |
A waxing negative social mood appears to correlate with a collective increase in anger, opposition, destructiveness and a desire for power over others.
The Wave Principle of Human Social Behavior |
It’s hard to enumerate all the bearish aspects behind China’s crack down on its food and drug industries. First, there is the uncanny resemblance to concerns over food and drug safety that emerge near big peaks. This was explained and demonstrated in December 1999 issue of The Elliott Wave Financial Forecast which came within weeks of a multi-year Dow Industrial’s high. The paragraph in the Additional References section below reveals how a smaller scare over genetically engineered food hit as the Dow approached its January 2000 peak. Socio Times covered some early shoots of the latest food scare here last October.
A succession of stories about Chinese food safety fears started with reports about dog-killing melamine in April. At that time, the NY Times reported, “For years, producers of animal feed all over China have secretly supplemented their feed with melamine, a cheap additive.” The key phrase here is “for years.” Its presence reveals that the news is not the use melamine in dog food, but the emergence of a new fearful mood, one that closely resembles similar mass fears about food that hit in the early stage of bear markets. The first brought the establishment of the U.S. Food & Drug Administration in 1907-1914 and another produced the “health food” craze of the late 1960s. The strength of the gathering food scare is evident on the front page of USA Today, which contains the headlines “Buying Only U.S. Food is a Tall Order” and “China at Top of Shoppers’ Fears.” The article says “half of shoppers are making an effort to buy U.S. food products.” “83% are concerned about food from China.”
Then, of course, there’s the “reactive bear market craving for regulation and revenge” (EWFF, May 2004) and the famous backlash against the bull market profiteers, especially those that push their bid for vast wealth to the ethical limits. The former head of the State Food and Drug Administration was sentenced on May 29. His appealed failed on June 22, and he was executed yesterday. The dire consequences to Zheng Xiaoyu, and the rapidity of his execution may well foreshadow the speed and strength of the next trend. |
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Additional References
December 1999, EWFF
Food Fights and the Seattle Mob
As in 1906 and 1968, much of Coca-Cola’s turmoil is rooted in emotional fears about food. The campaign against genetically engineered “Frankenfoods,” which people have been consuming for years with no evidence of harmful side effects, started in Europe and spread to the U.S. in recent weeks. As in 1908 and 1969, government hearings have been called to discuss the health risk in food. “The second of three FDA hearings on the safety and regulation of biotech foods is expected to be as contentious as the first meeting [on] November 18.” “Growing resistance to new technology” has prompted the public forums. At the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle, protestors attacked a McDonalds, smashing its windows and unfurling a banner protesting the genetic engineering of food. Nobody seems to know what triggered the wave of irrational fears but many are taking action. “Once Quick Converts, Farmers Begin To Lose Faith In Biotech Crops.” Even when the “customer is wrong, the customer is right,” says a farmer who has decided not to plant genetically modified seed next year. |
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