FWIW:

Two small Chinese companies and their U.S. importer were indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury for their roles in producing pet food blamed for the deaths of more than 4,000 cats and dogs.

Facing the prospect of trial in the U.S., assuming Beijing would give them up, are Mao Linzhun, owner and manager of Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development (XAC), a small processor of plant proteins in the city of Xuzhou; and Chen Zhen Hao, president of Suzhou Textiles (SSC) , a Chinese export broker that shipped XAC's products to the U.S.

The grand jury also indicted Sally Qing Miller, a 41-year-old Chinese national, and her American husband, 55-year-old Stephen S. Miller, who own Las Vegas-based ChemNutra, a buyer and importer of food and food components from China.

The indictment was the result of an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement into adulterated pet food that left an estimated 1,950 cats and 2,200 dogs dead.

The U.S. doesn't have an extradition treaty with China, but the chances of bringing the two obscure Chinese executives to trial in the U.S. would appear to be higher given the radically changed attitude of late of Chinese officials to a spate of product-safety problems. After an initial period of strenuous denials following the emergence of the pet food scandal in March, in recent months, they have begun taking substantive action.

The sea change in official policy was forced by mounting evidence from abroad of the dubious quality of exported Chinese products, from lead-tainted toys to toothpaste to, most recently, pesticide-contaminated dumplings, causing worldwide damage to the reputation of the "made in China" label. Acting to contain the damage, the government in August appointed Vice Premier Wu Yi, known in China as the Iron Lady, to head a high-profile, Cabinet-level panel (See: " China Cracks Down On Food Safety") that has moved to clamp down on thousands of small factories in its prosperous coastal region.

In the last two weeks, Beijing went a step further, forming a joint investigation team with the Japanese government to probe a case of pesticide-laced dumplings made by a manufacturer in a city near Beijing that have sickened at least 10 Japanese.

In two separate but related indictments, U.S. prosecutors alleged a deliberate cross-border fraud perpetrated by the two Chinese executives and their U.S. importer. The Chinese export broker, SSC, agreed to provide the U.S. importer, ChemNutra, with food-grade wheat gluten with a minimum protein content of 75% and contracted XAC, the Xuzhou wheat gluten manufacturer, to produce it. In order to save money, SSC allegedly mixed in low-cost melamine, a toxic chemical that is banned in human and animal food in the U.S.

Citing information from the Chinese government, one indictment charges that after receiving the adulterated wheat gluten, SSC labeled it with an inaccurate product code that is reserved for products that are not subject to compulsory inspection prior to leaving China, and did not declare the contaminated product it shipped to the U.S. as a raw material for feed or as food. Instead, it was falsely declared to the Chinese government as a product that avoided triggering a mandatory inspection of XAC's manufacturing facilities.

SSC then allegedly provided its U.S. importer, ChemNutra and its owners, the Millers, with documents that used the inaccurate product code. Despite Sally Miller's training and experience as an ISO-9000 chief auditor, she failed to disclose the inaccurate product-labeling to her customers, federal prosecutors allege.

Wednesday's indictment announcement said Miller has an engineering degree in food chemistry from Hangzhou University and worked for more than 10 years in China, mostly as a purchasing manager for U.S. companies. She represented herself to be a certified auditor in China for the internationally recognized ISO quality system.

The three companies exported more than 800 metric tons of wheat gluten to the U.S. in at least 13 separate shipments, with value totaling nearly $850,000, between Nov. 6, 2006, and Feb. 21, 2007, using Kansas City as the port of entry.

The Chinese companies and named parties were charged with 13 felony counts of introduction of adulterated food into interstate commerce and 13 felony counts of introduction of misbranded food into interstate commerce. Each felony count is punishable by up to three years in prison.

ChemNutra and the Millers were charged with one felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 13 misdemeanor counts of introduction of adulterated food into interstate commerce and 13 misdemeanor counts of introduction of misbranded food into interstate commerce. The conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of five years; the misdemeanor counts, up to a year each.