BEIJING, June 3 (Reuter) China will this year revise its regulations
controlling the sale and production of caffeine, the Health Daily said on
Tuesday.

The new rules will make it more difficult for caffeine and other controlled
stimulants to be used for illegal purposes, the official newspaper said.

China would also try to reduce the number of approved producers of caffeine
to 10 from 13 currently.

Production of caffeine is controlled in China, although coffee and tea, which
contain the stimulant, are popular beverages.

Weak management by some enterprises had allowed the loss or theft of drugs
during production, processing or shipping, while some firms had blindly
increased caffeine production leading to an increase in caffeinerelated
crimes, it said without giving details.

Under new rules governing a number of other controlled substances, buyers of
ephedrine would need to obtain a special purchase certificate that is
resistant to unauthorised duplication.

A list of approved ephedrine exporters would be drawn up, the newspaper said.