Beijing authorities have announced a tough new set of rules to keep the manufacturing, transportation and storage of dangerous goods under control.

Any companies involved in the business will have their licenses withdrawn if poor management results in theft or loss of goods, the city's police bureau warned on Tuesday.

The rules also apply to units that have been authorized to trade and use dangerous goods, which mainly refers to guns, explosives, toxic chemicals, corrosives, and radioactive and flammable materials. People responsible for the loss or theft are subject to criminal charges.

Bureau Director Ma Zhenchuan described the rule as an attempt to improve the management of dangerous goods in Beijing to ensure better social security and a safe 2008 Olympic Games.

He said loopholes exist in the existing management system, especially in the transportation and storage process, but did not give any further information.

However, a bureau report released last July said many theft and robbery cases had occurred in Beijing during transportation, because the routes were usually in mountainous areas in the suburbs of Beijing.

The latest case happened on October 26 in southwest Beijing's Fangshan District, when thieves stolen 6,000 detonators from a poorly guarded storage area near a coal mine.

Local police retrieved all the devices two days after the theft and arrested two suspects. People responsible for the poor management will receive disciplinary punishments, according to the police.

The majority of storage areas are located in suburban areas, and the keepers are usually old people with limited professional knowledge, the report said.

(China Daily December 7, 2006)