Human Rights Watch urged Beijing for full transparency on the removal of body organs from executed prisoners.

Another set of 'show' rules banning organ trafficking in China. A lot of good that's gonna do--think Falun Gong! See reports from M&C, BBC , Medical News and a CTV excerpt --

"The regulations show that China is responding to great international concern over organ trade in the country," said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based researcher for Human Rights Watch, in a telephone interview.

"But the regulations are no substitute for an open and transparent system. It leaves vague areas under secrecy, such as the crucial issue of the provenance of the organs, which we know are through judicial executions," Bequelin said.

The rules make it illegal to harvest human organs without permission, but Bequelin said the process of obtaining voluntary consent either from prisoners or their families was "virtually meaningless."

"We're talking about prisoners who are going to be executed. They can be subjected to all sorts of pressure to sign these consents," he said. "It is not an informed consent." (more)