The national quality standards regulator issued rules for the production of wood and bamboo disposable chopsticks on Monday.

The standards aim to ensure product quality and save wood, said a Standardization Administration of China (SAC) official at a press conference in Beijing.

According to the rules, wood disposable chopsticks can only be made of birch, poplar and other widely planted trees and they encourage makers to use bamboo, which grows much faster than trees.

The standards limit the water content of bamboo chopsticks to within 10 percent to prevent mould, and also limit the use of mould inhibitors harmful to health, such as orthophenylphenol and thiabendazole, to 10 milligrams per kilogram of chopsticks.

Li Zhonghai, head of the SAC, said that as most disposable chopsticks in China are made of leftover materials from the lumber industry, it is not necessary to completely ban their production and use.

China produces around 45 billion pairs of chopsticks a year, of which 60 percent are exported overseas.

(Xinhua News Agency October 11, 2005)