New Delhi - Burma has begun testing samples of Chinese manufactured milk powder in laboratories but so far it has not found any children suffering from any illness from the imported milk powder, a health ministry official told Mizzima on Monday.

"We are in the process of checking the Chinese milk powder and have sent samples to be tested in the laboratories," Dr. Win Myint, Deputy Director General of the Health Ministry said.

So far no major children hospitals in Burma have reported about children falling ill from the milk powder, Dr. Win Myint said.

"We have monitored most major children's hospitals in Burma and have so far found no illness connected to the milk powder," he added.

Dr. Win Myint said, in an effort to work out a detail strategy on checking milk products as well as food products from China, a high-level official meeting of the Ministry of Health including the Health Minister, Kyaw Myint, was held on Monday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry last week confirmed that two of its dairy companies have exported tainted milk powders to five developing countries including Burma.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said on Thursday that Yemen, Bangladesh, Burma, Gabon and Burundi have imported milk powder made by two Chinese firms whose products have been found to contain the chemical melamine, which is used in plastics.

The Chinese government, meanwhile, has banned 22 dairy companies after a test found that its products contain melamine. So far, four children have reportedly died and over 62, 000 children are suffering from serious illness after consuming the milk powder in China.

Following the milk powder scandal in China, several countries including China's neighbours have imposed a ban on imports of milk products from China and are testing the samples of the milk powder that have entered their countries.

Similarly, the Burmese Health Ministry on Monday said, it is also conducting a check on milk powders from China and is testing samples.

"We are now testing the samples and so far we have found no contaminated milk powder but it will be too early to draw any conclusion," Dr. Win Myint said.

Despite the government's claim that it has so far found no evidence indicating contamination of milk powder in Burmese markets, a Sino-Burmese border based analyst Aung Kyaw Zaw warned that Chinese companies are likely to divert their products to Burma through the illegal border trade routes.

Aung Kyaw Zaw, who closely monitors Sino-Burmese relations said, with most of China's trading partners banning the import of milk and milk products, Burma could be the target for companies that can no longer export their products.

According to him, Burma's illegal border trade with China is much larger than the legal foreign trade between the two countries, and with no orders issued from the authorities to ban Chinese milk powder or to check for quality, it is bound to enter the Burmese market without the peoples' knowledge.

"Without strict regulations on quality control Burmese people will be using the milk powder randomly without even knowing the consequences," he added.

A local businessman on the Sino-Burmese border town of Laiza in Kachin State said, so far there is no official restriction imposed on import of Chinese milk powder.

"Many people are still unaware of the milk powder scandal and goods and commodities continue to flow into Myitkyina [capital of Kachin state]," the businessman added.

He added that it will be difficult for the government to restrict import of milk powder from the border trade point as many such commodities are going through illegal trade routes.

"At least 75 percent of the goods in Laiza are from China," he added.

Similarly, a trader in another Sino-Burmese border town of Muse in Shan state said, the news of the Chinese milk scandal does not seem to have convinced people that the milk powder available in the markets could harm them.

"Business is normal and people are continuing to sell Chinese goods because that is the only thing available," the trader said.

A local resident in Mandalay, Burma's second largest city and the commercial hub that receives goods and commodities directly from the Chinese borders, said, most of the markets are filled with Chinese made goods and milk powder is no exception.

"People here do not seem to understand the extent of danger that the milk powder could cause and I still see a lot of people selling milk powder from China," the local added.

He said, Chinese goods have persistently dominated the markets in Mandalay and believes that at least 80 percent of goods and commodities that are being sold in major markets in Mandalay are made in China.

"But so far, I have not seen the government making any kind of announcement to avoid the use of milk powder, though the New Light of Myanmar carried a few articles on the milk powder scandal in China,' he added.

Reporting by The The, & Phanida, writing by Mungpi