TURIN, Italy -- International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge urged governments to speed up approval of global anti-doping rules before the Turin Games open on Friday.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the IOC's annual session Tuesday, Rogge expressed concern at the "very slow rate" of acceptance of the World Anti-Doping Code.

The code, adopted by all Olympic sports federations, sets out uniform rules and sanctions for all sports and countries in the fight against performance-enhancing drugs.

"We express the hope that the governments who have promised to adopt the code by the first day of the Olympic Games will accelerate their efforts," Rogge said.

The doping code was incorporated in a treaty approved by UNESCO member states in October. However, the accord doesn't formally go into force until at least 30 member governments ratify it.

So far, only seven countries have signed -- Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Monaco.

World Anti-Doping Agency spokesman Frederic Donze said other governments are expected to ratify the code in coming weeks and months.

WADA and the IOC had hoped enough governments would have signed up by the end of December for the convention to be in place for the Turin Olympics. But Donze said the lack of approval doesn't affect the stringent anti-doping rules being applied at the games.

Rogge said the International Olympic Committee will conduct 1,200 drug tests in Turin, a 72 percent increase over the number in Salt Lake City four years ago. The IOC is using systematic blood tests for the first time and saving doping samples for eight years.

"For the thousands of athletes who compete cleanly and fairly, we have a duty to put in place the strongest measures to trap the small minority who cheat," Rogge said.

"There is a danger that competitions be manipulated because the ones who put a bet then bribe the athletes or the referees," he said.

The IOC delegates gathered at the Teatro Regio in downtown Turin to listen to an Italian musical program featuring pieces by Verdi and Rossini. The ceremony also included pieces from the ballet "La Strada" and scenes from famous Italian movies projected on a screen.

The IOC's three-day assembly begins Wednesday with the selection of the host city for the committee's session in 2009. The candidates are Busan, South Korea; Copenhagen, Denmark; Athens, Greece; Cairo, Egypt; Singapore; Taipei, Taiwan, and Riga, Latvia.

At that meeting, the IOC will hold a presidential election and select the host city for the 2016 Summer Games.

On Thursday, the IOC is expected to consider whether to vote on the possible reinstatement of women's softball and baseball for the 2012 London Olympics. The sports were dropped from the program by narrow votes in July.

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