China needs to invest in safety: EU

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BEIJING, June 11 (AP): The European Union's top consumer protection official urged China on Wednesday to invest more in product safety for its myriad small producers.

EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said Europe was monitoring whether China's steps to improve its safety record would deliver results to consumers in Europe.

"The strongest signal is about the low end of the market, these small enterprises that cannot afford to invest in quality," Kuneva told reporters in Beijing, where she met with Chinese counterparts.

In such cases, the government needs to step in and "invest in safety," she said.

Kuneva said China had made improvements in its system for tracking the origin of products, thus better protecting the supply chain, but that more time was needed to judge the impact.