THE National Committee for Oral Health has been found to have taken money from makers of dental products in return for endorsing their products for more than 10 years, the Beijing Times cited an audit report by the Ministry of Health as saying yesterday.

The organization, established by the ministry in 1988, netted at least 2.18 million yuan (US$284,595) from illegal endorsements between 2002 and 2005, the report said.

The agency, which was closed April 30 for lacking the relevant qualifications for endorsing oral hygiene products, began to grant endorsements in 1992 to make money. It took in nearly 28 million yuan between 1997 and 2006, with 71 percent of its income from sponsors, said the auditing team.

The year 2005 was a harvest bonanza for the committee, which earned 5.4 million yuan in the year, according to the report.

One of the top officials of the committee admitted that the organization received a 10-million-yuan “donation” from Procter & Gamble China after endorsing one of its toothpastes.

The organization has certified at least nine dental care products ranging from toothpaste to chewing gum, according to CCTV.

The agency’s logo has been printed on packages of toothpastes and toothbrushes sold nationwide and has also appeared in TV commercials.

The report also revealed the “intimate relationship in finance” between the committee and the China Oral Health Foundation, which was established in April 1994.

“The foundation received money from sponsor companies of the committee and then transferred the money to the bank accounts of the committee,” said the report.

The foundation provided foreign exchange when committee employees made foreign trips, which severely breached the country’s financial regulations.

The six standing employees of the committee in its Beijing’s headquarters spent nearly 14 million yuan in 10 years, including on salaries and trips, said the report. It didn’t give any details.

However, this was just half of the committee’s total expenses in the period, which amounted to 28 million yuan.

Zhu Ling, secretary general of the oral health foundation and former vice director of the committee, was rewarded with 11,000 yuan in 2005 for “her excellent performances.”

Zhang Boxue, the committee’s vice director, received 27,900 yuan in housing allowance from June 2003 to January 2005. He also got 74,174 yuan as a housing subsidy for no reason, said the report.

Zhang was also found to have improperly loaned the committee’s money to a toothbrush maker in Guangdong Province in December 1994.

But the company went bankrupt and the money, about 150,000 yuan, could not be retrieved.

In 1998, Zhang invested 8.5 million yuan of the committee’s funds in an illegal trust company at a yearly interest rate of 5.67 percent.

The committee later harvested nearly 1.2 million yuan in profits, but Zhang failed to explain where the money has gone, the report said.

Zhang reportedly returned the housing subsidies by February.

The probe into the committee’s financial affairs began last November after numerous public disputes about its operations, including a lawsuit.

Last year several lawyers sued the committee, calling its qualifications into question. The court is yet to pronounce a sentence in that case.

At a press conference in March last year, the committee admitted that it did not have the right to grant official approval to products.

(SD-Agencies)

However, last year several lawyers sued the NCOH, calling its qualifications into question. The court is yet to pass a sentence.

At a press conference in March last year, the NCOH admitted that it did not have the right to grant official approval to products.