China says ‘over 99% of exports’ safe
China says ‘over 99% of exports’ safe
By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai and Eoin Callan in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: August 2 2007 14:15 | Last updated: August 2 2007 14:15
China on Thursday strongly defended the quality of its exports and said it would work with the US to improve product safety in the wake of another substantial recall of consumer goods made in China.
Mattel is recalling 1.5m toys worldwide, including replicas of popular children’s television characters such as Elmo, Dora and Big Bird, because they use paint that contains too much lead, the biggest such problem to face the US toy-maker in more than a decade.
The high-profile toy recall is the latest in a string of problems to face China-made goods in the US, ranging from contaminated pet food that was linked to the death of thousands of cats and dogs to toothpaste laced with industrial chemicals. Earlier this year, 1.5m Thomas the Tank Engine toys were recalled in the US because of excessive use of lead paint.
In the face of a growing crisis of confidence in Chinese goods, Bo Xilai, Commerce Minister, said that “over 99 per cent of China’s export products are good and safe”. In comments published on Thursday on the ministry’s website, he added: “We hope that all parties can treat Chinese products objectively, fairly and rationally. Don’t let this damage the normal development of trade.”
In recent weeks, China has launched a co-ordinated public relations drive to try and show that it is taking seriously criticisms of the quality of its goods, however it has also attacked foreign media for exaggerating the safety risks.
An official at China’s main product safety watchdog said on Thursday the government would work with the US to improve safety. “We want to co-operate with other countries including the US,” said Wei Chuanzhong, an official with the General Administration for Quality Supervision. However, he added: “We also do not agree with playing up the situation regardless of the facts.”
The recall of Mattel toys came as a surprise to the industry because the company is considered to have some of the best practices for monitoring overseas manufacturing, including owning many of the factories it uses in China. Mattel would not identify the manufacturer in this case, but said it was a long-standing supplier.
The lead was detected by internal tests and reported to US authorities because it breached regulations allowing up to 0.06 per cent lead content in children’s toys. The company said it was able to retrieve two-thirds of the toys before they reached store shelves after US regulators agreed to withhold details from the public until late Thursday to allow time for Fischer-Price, the Mattel unit that sells the toys, to organise its response.
Dane Chamorro, head of the Greater China practice at consultants Control Risks, said multinationals sourcing from China needed to pay attention to the entire supply chain in the country. “Lots of producers in China will sub-contract parts of the process, so you have to audit several layers down to get to the original source,” he said.
Nancy Nord, head of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, said: “Ensuring that Chinese-made toys are safe for US consumers is one of my highest priorities and is the subject of vital talks currently in place between CPSC and the Chinese government.”
A group of US health official have been in Beijing this week to try and establish a new system between the two countries for ensuring the safety of food and drugs. The two governments hope to sign a memorandum of understanding by the end of the year.
China introduced new safety standards for toys in 2003 which limited the proportion of lead used in paint to less than 0.01 per cent. In a report issued in May, the quality watchdog said that 80 per cent of toys produced in the country met safety standards, which rose to 90 per cent for toys made by large companies. The main problems were to do with poor designs and badly-written instructions, and use of lead in paint was not mentioned in the report.
By Geoff Dyer in Shanghai and Eoin Callan in Washington
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: August 2 2007 14:15 | Last updated: August 2 2007 14:15
China on Thursday strongly defended the quality of its exports and said it would work with the US to improve product safety in the wake of another substantial recall of consumer goods made in China.
Mattel is recalling 1.5m toys worldwide, including replicas of popular children’s television characters such as Elmo, Dora and Big Bird, because they use paint that contains too much lead, the biggest such problem to face the US toy-maker in more than a decade.
The high-profile toy recall is the latest in a string of problems to face China-made goods in the US, ranging from contaminated pet food that was linked to the death of thousands of cats and dogs to toothpaste laced with industrial chemicals. Earlier this year, 1.5m Thomas the Tank Engine toys were recalled in the US because of excessive use of lead paint.
In the face of a growing crisis of confidence in Chinese goods, Bo Xilai, Commerce Minister, said that “over 99 per cent of China’s export products are good and safe”. In comments published on Thursday on the ministry’s website, he added: “We hope that all parties can treat Chinese products objectively, fairly and rationally. Don’t let this damage the normal development of trade.”
In recent weeks, China has launched a co-ordinated public relations drive to try and show that it is taking seriously criticisms of the quality of its goods, however it has also attacked foreign media for exaggerating the safety risks.
An official at China’s main product safety watchdog said on Thursday the government would work with the US to improve safety. “We want to co-operate with other countries including the US,” said Wei Chuanzhong, an official with the General Administration for Quality Supervision. However, he added: “We also do not agree with playing up the situation regardless of the facts.”
The recall of Mattel toys came as a surprise to the industry because the company is considered to have some of the best practices for monitoring overseas manufacturing, including owning many of the factories it uses in China. Mattel would not identify the manufacturer in this case, but said it was a long-standing supplier.
The lead was detected by internal tests and reported to US authorities because it breached regulations allowing up to 0.06 per cent lead content in children’s toys. The company said it was able to retrieve two-thirds of the toys before they reached store shelves after US regulators agreed to withhold details from the public until late Thursday to allow time for Fischer-Price, the Mattel unit that sells the toys, to organise its response.
Dane Chamorro, head of the Greater China practice at consultants Control Risks, said multinationals sourcing from China needed to pay attention to the entire supply chain in the country. “Lots of producers in China will sub-contract parts of the process, so you have to audit several layers down to get to the original source,” he said.
Nancy Nord, head of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, said: “Ensuring that Chinese-made toys are safe for US consumers is one of my highest priorities and is the subject of vital talks currently in place between CPSC and the Chinese government.”
A group of US health official have been in Beijing this week to try and establish a new system between the two countries for ensuring the safety of food and drugs. The two governments hope to sign a memorandum of understanding by the end of the year.
China introduced new safety standards for toys in 2003 which limited the proportion of lead used in paint to less than 0.01 per cent. In a report issued in May, the quality watchdog said that 80 per cent of toys produced in the country met safety standards, which rose to 90 per cent for toys made by large companies. The main problems were to do with poor designs and badly-written instructions, and use of lead in paint was not mentioned in the report.
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