Recently, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the “Plan for Deepening the Reform of the Party and National Institutions.”

New “CFDA” responsibilities include:

- Registration, supervision and management of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and medical devices.

Special foods such as health foods will not fall within the responsibilities of newly-established China Food and Drug Administration, and the registration of health foods, formerly under the responsibility of provincial food and drug administrations, should be assigned to provincial-level market supervision administrations.

The “Plan” requires the integration and formation of a market supervision comprehensive law enforcement team, and the integration of industrial and commercial, quality inspection, food, medicine, prices, trademarks, patents and other law-enforcement responsibilities and teams. It outlines the set-up of a market supervision comprehensive law enforcement team directed by the State Market Regulatory Administration. It requires that enforcement of drug trading and sales and other activities shall be uniformly undertaken by the comprehensive law enforcement teams of market supervision in cities and counties.”

It is imperative to integrate the grass-roots administration of industry and commerce, quality supervision, food and drug administration with law-enforcing departments, and the supervision of the production and distribution of local health foods will be the responsibility of the market supervision comprehensive law enforcement team.