China campaign seizes fake condoms, medical devices

BEIJING - China's Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) has announced the breaking of two major cases involving millions of US dollars' worth of fake condoms and medical devices.

As a national safety campaign on counterfeit medical equipment gains steam, local drug agency staff and police in East China's Zhejiang Province recently arrested 20 suspects for allegedly producing or selling fake Durex condoms. They also busted four Internet stores and two dens where the condoms were sold or produced, Mao Zhenbin, a senior CFDA official said at a press conference on Tuesday.

More than 1.61 million fake condoms, three machines and raw materials were found in the case, which is worth over 35 million yuan ($5.62 million).

In another case, police in Central China's Henan Province recently arrested 19 suspects for alleged sale of bogus medical devices, busting 13 marketing dens and seizing 48 medical devices originating from overseas waste, according to Mao.

The CFDA launched a five-month nationwide safety campaign to check the manufacture, sale and use of medical apparatus in mid-March.

The action focuses on fake certificates, illegal manufacture and sale, false advertising claims and the use of unapproved products.

In the next stage of the campaign, the CFDA will urge errant companies to rectify their deeds and will transfer those violating the laws to law enforcement agencies for further investigation, Tong Min from the administration said at the same conference.

The administration also plans to introduce regulations and measures to standardize supervision of the registration, production, marketing and use of medical equipment in the following months, Tong added.