Italian dairy giant Parmalat has become the latest western company to fall foul of China’s food safety rules with regulators suspending the licence it needs to import fresh milk produced by its Australian subsidiary. 

It follows Beijing’s suspension last week of an import licence for an infant formula factory owned by Australian dairy company Bellamy’s — moves that experts say highlight a tougher regulatory environment for overseas companies that have cashed-in on Chinese fears about the quality of domestic milk for over a decade.

Faced with a surge in imports following a scandal in which Chinese milk was deliberately adulterated with the coal-byproduct melamine, leaving 300,000 infants ill and six dead, Beijing has progressively tightened its food safety requirements.