China OKs US Health Inspections

China will allow US health inspectors to monitor the country’s food and drug exports, the Washington Post reports, a big concession in heated high-level trade talks. China accuses the US media of tarnishing its reputation by overblowing safety concerns, and has in turn questioned US exports. China is the first of many countries the US hopes to station inspectors in.

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said inspectors would comprehensively monitor the supply chain; orange juice, for example, would be tracked “all the way back to an orange sitting on a tree.” Food safety was the number one item on the US agenda for this week's talks, which seek to ease simmering tensions over issues from safety to currency to the environment. (More China food exports stories.)