China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine - China's main food safety regulator said it has sent a message to its American counterpart about the use of fluoroquinolones.
In its statement on the Web site, Chinese administration reportedly asked its American counterpart to look into the matter and deal with the problem "in an objective, scientific and equitable way."
AP reports that China has also expressed its desire for the U.S. against the violation of World Trade Organization's rules, which give countries the right to ensure food safety for consumers but not to manipulate health standards to protect domestic producers.
According to Chinese officials, there has yet been no response from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not responded. Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana recently banned catfish from China after tests found traces of ciprofloxacin and enrofloxacin, both in the fluoroquinolone family. The antibiotics are used to treat tuberculosis, pneumonia and other illnesses in people and prevent infections in animals.
Though the Chinese health regulator reason that the drugs are allowed in China, the EU and Japan, the FDA says that fluoroquinolones have never been approved for use in aquaculture and any amount detected in fish tissue is considered adulterated.
