The State Administration of Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine (SASIQ) issued a circular here on Friday urging its branches to ensure the safety in public and work place during the upcoming week-long May Day holiday.

During the "Golden Week" holiday, the Administration, China's quality control watchdog, said local departments should strengthen inspections over food producing and processing enterprises and crack down on illegal activities involving processing poor quality food.

Efforts should focus on guaranteeing the quality of meat and poultry and their by-products to ensure food security, said the circular.

It also called on local departments to strengthen supervision, inspection and quarantine of people, commodities, animals and plants that leave and enter China to prevent the entry of harmful materials and epidemic diseases into the country.

Coal mines are urged to promote safe production.

The circular asked local quality supervision and inspection and quarantine departments to establish a sound working mechanism and prepare detailed emergency response plans.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2006)