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Aug 17, 2007
China vows to get tough over unsafe products
Beijing will inspect all food exports and 'severely punish' errant manufacturers
By Chua Chin Hon
BEIJING - CHINA yesterday vowed to inspect all food exports and 'severely' punish errant manufacturers as it tried to rescue the made-in-China label from a spate of damaging recalls and safety scares.

The assurances came as industry players expressed concerns that the string of scandals involving China-made products would hurt their bottom line in the second half of the year, especially in the all-important run-up to the Christmas shopping season.

Hong Kong's toy manufacturers, who make their products in southern Guangdong province, are now worried that jittery importers will reject even stocks meeting quality standards as a result of weakening consumer confidence in China-made products.

'No such case has yet been reported, but many are afraid that it could happen, which would mean losses of millions of dollars in compensation,' said an industry source.

These concerns were not lost on Beijing, particularly after US toy giant Mattel announced on Tuesday a fresh worldwide recall of 18 million unsafe toys made in China - its second this month.

It sparked a fresh wave of criticism from US senators already critical of trade relations with China - some of them called for tougher inspection, if not an outright ban, on some Chinese imports.

The political heat prompted Beijing to hold a rare press briefing yesterday in the US capital, where a senior Chinese trade official said all shipments of Chinese food exports would be inspected from next month.

At least one box in each shipment would be checked, and those which pass the inspection will be given an official government seal, said Mr Zhao Baoqing, first secretary for trade at the Chinese Embassy in Washington.

He added that China would also send two delegations to the US this month and the next to discuss how inspections and safety standards can be improved.

'What we want is to allow the consumers to rest assured when they use products imported from China,' said Mr Zhao.

In just a matter of months, the list of problem Chinese exports has grown from lethal pet food, toxic toothpaste and tainted cough mixture to include faulty tyres and dangerous toys.

In Beijing, Commerce Ministry spokesman Wang Xinpei assured journalists that the authorities took seriously Mattel's latest recall, and would 'severely deal with' the errant factories.

'We really care about toy safety, not only in exports but also in this country,' he told reporters. 'We will responsibly investigate cases of product quality whenever they appear. If problems appear, we will stop the relevant manufacturer's exports or even stop production.'

The spokesman also hit out at foreign media for exaggerating problems with Chinese products, saying most of its exports were safe: 'It's irresponsible to criticise the overall quality of China's exports.

'Some media overstated China's product-quality problem based on only a few incidents and denigrated the overall quality of made-in-China goods. The Chinese government strongly opposes such action.'

Mr Wang also suggested China should not bear all the blame, saying 'those who import and sell the toys' should pay 'close attention to quality at all levels'.

Some Chinese state media reports have adopted a similar tone, implying companies like Mattel are trying to shift the blame for unsafe products to China.

chinhon@sph.com.sg

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY VINCE CHONG IN HONG KONG

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