China blames mislabelling for Panama drug deaths

BEIJING, May 31 (Reuters) China said today two Chinese companies had mislabelled a toxic chemical as a medical ingredient that killed at least 100 people in Panama last year, but added direct responsibility rested with Panamanian traders.

A Chinese company shipped 11,349 kg of ''TD'' glycerine to Spain in 2003, where it was then sold on to Panama, said Wei Chuanzhong, deputy head of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

But that product actually contained 15 per cent diethylene glycol -- an industrial solvent used in paint and antifreeze -- he added.

Glycerine is a similar but more expensive compound frequently used as syrup in medicines and in toothpaste.

Once in Panama, the product was renamed by Panamanian merchants as ''pure glycerine'' and they also tweaked the expiry date to indicate it would be valid for an extra three years, and sold it on, Wei added.

''By the time the Panama drug manufacturer used the chemical, it had been expired for two years,'' he said.

Panama says the chemical was used to make cough syrup, which then killed at least 100 people.

REUTERS PJ ND1650