Beijing group to tackle product safety
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Richard McGregor, FT Syndication Service
BEIJING: Wu Yi, a Chinese vice-premier, has been appointed to head a top-level leadership group to address the issue of food and product safety in the wake of almost daily revelations about the hazards of locally made goods.
The appointment of Ms Wu, who has long been used by the government as a troubleshooter in trade disputes and health issues, is both a sign of the seriousness of the issue and a convenient way to co-ordinate a response across the government.
Ms Wu was already preparing to manage policy on this issue as part of her stewardship of the Chinese side in twice-yearly bilateral meetings with senior US officials.
The next meeting, attended by large numbers of ministers from both countries, is due to be held in Beijing in November, with food and product safety moving to the top of the agenda.
Millions of products, ranging from children's toys to toothpaste, have been recalled from shelves in both the US and Europe in recent months.
On Friday, Toys R Us said it was removing all babies' vinyl bibs from its stores as a precaution after bibs made in China for one supplier showed excessive lead levels.
Some Chinese food exports have also been suspended, a problem that resurfaced in Thailand this week, with an announcement that about 10 per cent of 11,500 Chinese products coming into the country had been rejected because they contained "hazardous residues of chemicals and pesticides".
The health scares have so far not slowed China's surging exports, but have threatened to damage China's image as its businesses are trying to move to higher-margin goods.
While the focus of most foreign media coverage has been on China's hazardous exports, local citizens have always suffered the most from dangerous food and products.
In the latest episode of serious food poisoning, 74 teenagers at a boarding school in China's central north province of Shanxi were taken to hospital after they began vomiting.
Ms Wu's committee will contain ministers and agency heads from more than a dozen departments, making it a challenging issue to manage in a system that increasingly requires bureaucratic consensus.
The appointment may be a swansong for Ms Wu, who is 69, an age by which most Chinese officials have forcibly taken retirement.
In a statement on Friday, the China Toy Association, which represents manufacturers and suppliers, said the industry had "paid a heavy price for its errors" and many workers would lose their jobs.
"Most of the employees will have to leave factories they have been working at for many years and are facing losing their jobs and re-employment problems.
"This has had a huge impact on industry and society. The recent recalls were instigated by foreign brands and no one was injured."
BEIJING: Wu Yi, a Chinese vice-premier, has been appointed to head a top-level leadership group to address the issue of food and product safety in the wake of almost daily revelations about the hazards of locally made goods.
The appointment of Ms Wu, who has long been used by the government as a troubleshooter in trade disputes and health issues, is both a sign of the seriousness of the issue and a convenient way to co-ordinate a response across the government.
Ms Wu was already preparing to manage policy on this issue as part of her stewardship of the Chinese side in twice-yearly bilateral meetings with senior US officials.
The next meeting, attended by large numbers of ministers from both countries, is due to be held in Beijing in November, with food and product safety moving to the top of the agenda.
Millions of products, ranging from children's toys to toothpaste, have been recalled from shelves in both the US and Europe in recent months.
On Friday, Toys R Us said it was removing all babies' vinyl bibs from its stores as a precaution after bibs made in China for one supplier showed excessive lead levels.
Some Chinese food exports have also been suspended, a problem that resurfaced in Thailand this week, with an announcement that about 10 per cent of 11,500 Chinese products coming into the country had been rejected because they contained "hazardous residues of chemicals and pesticides".
The health scares have so far not slowed China's surging exports, but have threatened to damage China's image as its businesses are trying to move to higher-margin goods.
While the focus of most foreign media coverage has been on China's hazardous exports, local citizens have always suffered the most from dangerous food and products.
In the latest episode of serious food poisoning, 74 teenagers at a boarding school in China's central north province of Shanxi were taken to hospital after they began vomiting.
Ms Wu's committee will contain ministers and agency heads from more than a dozen departments, making it a challenging issue to manage in a system that increasingly requires bureaucratic consensus.
The appointment may be a swansong for Ms Wu, who is 69, an age by which most Chinese officials have forcibly taken retirement.
In a statement on Friday, the China Toy Association, which represents manufacturers and suppliers, said the industry had "paid a heavy price for its errors" and many workers would lose their jobs.
"Most of the employees will have to leave factories they have been working at for many years and are facing losing their jobs and re-employment problems.
"This has had a huge impact on industry and society. The recent recalls were instigated by foreign brands and no one was injured."