U.S. to promote safety of products from Central America

MEXICO CITY, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The United Sates will promote the safety of products imported from Central America, visiting U.S. Health and Human Services Minister Michael Leavitt said Tuesday.

Leavitt, who arrived in El Salvador on Monday night from Mexico, inaugurated the "Regional Forum on Product Safety," according to news reaching here from San Salvador.

Representatives from the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama also attended the forum.

According to Leavitt, the participants would discuss "the importance of growing relations" between producers and exporters, and the improvement of the safety of processing products and the food chain.

The forum would also discuss the maintenance of safety norms for the pharmaceutical industry and hospital products, Leavitt said.

It is transcendental to establish relations between the countries signing free trade agreements with the United States, Central America and the Dominican Republic to achieve the safety and security of food products, medicines and medical devices, Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca said during the forum.