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China says U.S. also to blame
for toy safety scares
Lindsay Beck
Reuters
Monday Aug 27, 2007
China on Monday hit back at Mattel, after a massive toy recall,
saying designers and importers should also take responsibility
for product safety, but promised to punish its own manufacturers
who flout standards.
The world's largest toymaker, Mattel, recalled more than 18 million
Chinese-made toys in mid-August because of hazards from small
magnets that can cause injury if swallowed, just two weeks after
it recalled 1.5 million toys due to fears over lead paint.
"I myself looked at some of the samples of these problematic
toys, and I found that there is a serious problem with the design.
The design is seriously defective," Li Changjiang, head of
China's General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection
and Quarantine, told a news conference.
"In my view, no matter where those toys were sold there
would be a recall, because it is highly likely they are dangerous
for children.
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"While we recognize that Chinese producers should be blamed
for those problematic toys, what kind of responsibility should
the U.S. designers and the U.S. importers take in this respect?"
Li asked.
China is facing growing global pressure to clean up its manufacturing
sector and ensure the quality of its exports after a series of
scandals involving products ranging from poisonous pet food ingredients
to sub-standard toys and tainted toothpaste.
Li has described the storm surrounding Chinese-made goods as
politically motivated and unfair, but he has also called for tougher
regulation of manufacturers and warned that failure to improve
quality was undermining China's trade strength.
On Monday, he blamed differing national standards, misleading
statistics and lack of communication for some of the product safety
scares that have alarmed foreign consumers.
"For some products, the two countries enforce different
standards," Li said of China and the United States, also
citing "inaccurate statistics".
But he said the latest Chinese campaign to improve product safety
would focus on creating a chain of supervision across the entire
production process for both industrial products and food.
Monitoring and inspection of drug manufacturers would also be
strengthened, and celebrities banned from endorsing drugs in advertisements,
Li said.
He also acknowledged the vast challenge China faces in overseeing
its hundreds of thousands of tiny, often family-run producers,
a task compounded by lack of communication between myriad government
agencies overseeing production and safety standards, and between
central and local authorities.
But Li defended the "made-in-China" label and said
Chinese-made toys in particular were enjoyed the world over.
"In China, about 3 million workers are working in the toy
industry, providing toys to children all across the world,"
he said.
"It is because of their hard work that children in other
parts of the world are having fun in their daily life."
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INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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