When the scandal broke out, late as i seemed, investigators said it appeared that milk merchants (selling to Sanlu the raw milk they had bought from farmers) had added the chemical melamine which is normally used in plastics and fertilizers, to boost the milk’s apparent protein content.

The case is especially embarrassing to Sanlu – a majority state-owned joint venture with a New Zealand dairy cooperative – because it was allegedly such a paragon of virtue it has been exempted from government food safety inspections since December 2005.

The company’s infant formula had been certified as an ”inspection-exempt product” for three years by the General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine (AQSIQ), according to the administration’s website.

Such certification means that ”the products are exempted from quality monitoring and inspection conducted by the government,” the website explains. In return, it adds, ”internal inspection should be reinforced.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0917/p01s03-woap.html

Btw, just to underscore:

Forty-seven Chinese dairy companies had been enjoying such an exemption, according to AQSIQ, after demonstrating that they have ”a complete quality guarantee system,” among other criteria.