The Cabinet-level Department of Health will streamline the administration of food and drugs with the establishment of a new office patterned after the Food and Drug Administration of the United States, President Ma Ying-jeou announced Tuesday. In an address given at the Presidential Office to members of the Union of Pharmacist Associations, Republic of China, Ma said the new office will become operational in January 2010. Noting the inefficiency of the relationship between inspections of foodstuffs and drugs, the president said the new office will bring the inspection of drugs, foodstuffs, cosmetics and medical equipment under one roof. The Legislative Yuan passed a law May 12 for the establishment of the food and drug administration, and preparations for the new office will begin in August. Under the new law, four existing offices under the department -- the Bureau of Food Sanitation, the Bureau of Controlled Drugs, the Bureau of Food and Drug Analysis, and the Bureau of Pharmaceutical Affairs -- will be combined into a single administration, a move that is expected to greatly increase efficiency and allow the various bureaus to interact better. 