Ecolab China announced today that it has jointly organized the second annual “China Meat Products Safety and Trade Development Forum” with the Food Quality and Safety Certification Center (FQCC), an independent legal entity of China’s Ministry of Commerce. The Forum will take place in Beijing on Sept. 26-27, 2008.

More than 300 participants from relevant government departments, including the Departments of Market Operation, Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce will welcome foreign experts from the World Trade Organization (WTO), European Union, Canada and the United States, as well as domestic participants from the meat and poultry industry.

The goal of the Forum is to assist the Chinese government in enhancing the development of food safety regulation and standardization in the country’s meat and poultry industry, and to promote international trade of meat and poultry products. It will also help Chinese meat and poultry enterprises improve their awareness and management in the area of food safety. This Forum has been approved by China’s Ministry of Commerce.

Dr. Katherine Swanson, Ecolab Vice President of Food Safety, is a guest speaker at the Forum. Her presentation is titled, “Innovative Technologies: Meat and Poultry Antimicrobials.” It focuses on Ecolab’s global food safety solutions, and how to bring those same international practices to the China meat and poultry industry to help strengthen food safety.

"We’re extremely pleased to jointly organize this important annual food safety event in China, and look forward to working with the local meat and poultry industry in strengthening food safety throughout the country,” said Sam Hsu, Vice President and General Manager, Ecolab China. “It is through educational events like this Forum that Ecolab can help the local food processing market to grow, while training businesses how to minimize the potential for foodborne illness outbreaks.

“We believe it is vitally important to the industry’s long-term success to create an environment where all countries are grounded in good international food safety practices,” Hsu added. “Jointly organizing this Forum is just one more way Ecolab is aggressively working to help create a cleaner, safer, healthier world for everyone across the globe.”

With sales of US$5.5 billion and more than 26,000 associates, Ecolab Inc. (NYSE: ECL) is the global leader in cleaning, sanitizing, food safety and infection prevention products and services. Ecolab delivers comprehensive programs and services to foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, and hospitality markets in more than 160 countries. More news and information is available at www.ecolab.com.

(China.org.cn September 26, 2008)