Cambodia bans Chinese powdered baby milk

Phnom Penh - Cambodia joined a growing list of countries that have banned Chinese milk powder and stepped up inspections, a senior official said Tuesday.

Secretary of State for the Commerce Ministry Chan Nora said Cambodia's quality control bureau also ramped up testing of imported products.

'We need to protect the public. This applies to all products - not just Chinese goods. We have stepped up inspections,' he said.

China is a major donor and close ally of Cambodia, and Nora stressed the crackdown was not aimed at any one country.

However Cambodia's endemic corruption, poor border control and poverty has made it a notorious dumping ground for unscrupulous traders of defective products in the past, including chicken suspected to be infected with bird flu and even toxic waste.

Cambodian authorities are concerned that contaminated milk powder might be repackaged and sold in poorer markets such as their own.

Chinese officials acknowledged last week that melamine, a chemical that causes kidney-related diseases, was present in milk processed by three major Chinese dairy companies.