The Ministry of Agriculture Thursday ordered local agricultural, animal husbandry and veterinary departments to take more effective measures to safeguard the legitimate interests of dairy farmers and to stabilize milk production.

The ministry issued an emergency circular Thursday on the issue, against the backdrop of dairy farmers discarding milk as a result of the recent tainted baby formula scandal over the past few days in such major milk producing regions as Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Shandong.

According to the circular, normal purchases of fresh milk should be ensured, and smaller enterprises should be encouraged to buy more fresh milk and dairy products makers should be prompted to fulfill contracts on fresh milk buying.

Fresh milk test and purchase procedures should be accelerated, and milk collection order should be maintained, the circular said. "No milk collection should be stopped and restricted," the circular emphasized.

A total of 2.78 million staff have been sent to check 7.6 million dairy firms and 7,899.5 tons of dairy products tainted by melamine had been removed from retailers across China by 9 a.m. Thursday, according to the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC).

The Sanlu Group, a leading Chinese dairy producer based in northern Hebei Province, admitted on Sept. 12 that it had found some of its baby milk powder products were contaminated with melamine.

Melamine-contaminated baby formula has killed at least three infants and left more than 53,000 with various urinary tract problems, including kidney stones. About 13,000 infants are still being treated for complications in hospitals.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has already sent 1,644 teams and 387 working groups across the country to inspect the production process of dairy plants.

Quality sample checks have covered other major brands including Mengniu, Yili, Guangming and Sanyuan.

Agriculture minister Sun Zhengcai said on Monday that melamine was most probably mixed with milk at the collection centers, where small dairy farmers sell their products.

According to Sun, the fresh milk collection system would be overhauled.

Thursday's circular also orders related local authorities to take rescue measures to bail out dairy farmers. Technical support should be provided for the dairy farmers to guide them in animal disease control and cost reduction.

Special channels should be opened as soon as possible for fresh milk transport, transport cost should be decreased and more sales channels should be explored, according to the circular.

The agricultural ministry said earlier that 29 provincial areas nationwide had set up special working groups by Wednesday to regulate the dairy product market.

Local governments also promised subsidies for dairy farmers, in a bid to reduce the cost of feeding cows. North China's Hebei Province earmarked 316 million yuan (46.4 million U.S. dollars) as subsidies on the basis of 200 yuan for each cow.

North China's Shanxi Province would grant a subsidy between 10 and 18 yuan per day for each cow to dairy farmers in major milk producing cities and counties. Liaoning Province in northeast allocated 108 million yuan as subsidies for 240,000 cows, according to the ministry.

The State Council (Cabinet) said Thursday that it had sent out inspection groups to local areas nationwide to step up efforts for the quality check, milk production, milk product processing and sales.

The AQSIQ Thursday evening ordered local quality watchdogs to keep complete record files for the raw material getting into dairy plants.

The AQSIQ announced Thursday that it had taken 282 sample tests for imported packaged dairy products and did not find melamine. The quality watchdog said it would continue conducting tests on import dairy products.

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2008)