China softens stance on product safety

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Source: Financial Times

China on Thursday softened its tone over the safety of food and consumer product exports, pledging to raise standards in factories and processing plants by the end of this year in order to restore confidence among US consumers.

At a briefing in New York, officials promised that the central government would not tolerate backsliding or lax oversight on the part of local and regional authorities. They said there would be “zero tolerance for violators or government officials who fail to perform their duties”.

The tone of the media briefing by Kuang Weilin, deputy consul general in New York, was notably conciliatory compared with previous statements by the Chinese government. These have tended to portray recent product safety scares as being exaggerated by protectionist politicians in the US.

“We do have problems but we are very determined to tackle them earnestly and effectively,” said Mr Kuang. He said the decision to establish a cabinet panel on product safety headed by Wu Yi, a vice-premier, earlier this month showed the government’s determination.



Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/721eeb5a-5721-11dc-9a3a-0000779fd2ac.html

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"Made in China" is for the most part safe goods, says Mr. Kuang Weilin.

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1. My objection has always been with regard to the human rights situation. But setting that aside,

how will compliance with heightened standards be verified? Who will be the verifying authority? Will whistleblowers be protected from retribution? Devil is in the details, as they say.

[brentspeak]

2. No doubt Mattel, etc., will hail this is a "proof" that we can trust their Chinese-made products

:thumbsdown:

I'll buy 'Made In USA', thank you very much.

[jgraz]

3. At least they didn't widen their stance

:rofl:

[madrchsod]

4. ya real cute.....................