China will soon require baby formula producers to register and secure permits to sell their products in the country as part of tightened regulations on milk and infant formula.

The China Food and Drug Administration, the country's food safety watchdog, has issued stricter rules governing baby formula in the country following the series of scandals from 2008, when nearly 53,000 Chinese babies were hospitalized due to contaminated milk.

Like Us on Facebook

The official Xinhua news agency has reported that the new rules now require domestic and baby formula producers to register and secure permits with the country's food safety watchdog before they can sell their products in the local market.

The new rules also require these producers to specify the foreign raw materials used in their products. The China Food and Drug Administration also bans the use of health-related claims in packaging, such as "good for the brain" or "improves immunity".

"If they are using foreign raw materials, they must specify the place or country and vague phrasing like "imported milk," "from foreign pastures," or "imported raw materials" are forbidden," the Baby Formula Registration Regulation issued recently said.

Observers said the new rules will greatly impact the operations of local and foreign producers of milk and infant formula in China, which produced 700,000 tonnes of baby formula in 2015.

The 2008 milk scandal made Chinese consumers wary of locally-produced milk products, resulting to the surge in the popularity of foreign banks, according to a Reuters report.

In April, about 1,000 cans of milk powder, over 20,000 empty cans and 65,000 fake trademarks were confiscated in a police operation that also resulted in the arrest of nine people involved in producing fake baby formula.

According to a plan on this year's food safety operations, baby formula and supplementary food will stay on the list of commodities under close watch.

TagsChina Milk Scandal, China Infant Formula, China Milk