The problem is that “dozens” of laboratories produce legal highs across China without any meaningful regulation, says Wynbo Shi, senior regulatory-affairs manager for the Hangzhou-based Chemical Inspection & Regulation Service Ltd., an independent consultancy firm. According to Shi, firms in China intending to sell cosmetics or drugs need to get a license to do so. However, “after you have got a license there’s no enforcement or inspection,” he explains, adding that many companies exploit a loophole by telling the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) that they are manufacturing pharmaceuticals, while simultaneously informing the China Food and Drug Administration that they are making research chemicals. “There is no collaboration between those authorities and no inspection enforcement, so companies in China can manufacture these chemicals without any regulatory challenges,” Shi says.
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