Posted on 08/02/2007 6:38:32 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
(BEIJING)--More than 99 percent of China's exports are safe, the government insisted on Thursday, amid a US recall of nearly one million Chinese made toys over fears they contained toxic lead paint.
"More than 99 percent of the products China exports are of good quality and are safe," Commerce Minister Bo Xilai said in a statement posted on his ministry's website.
"We hope that the relevant sides will handle Chinese products in an objective, fair and rational manner. This should not impact the normal development of trade."
Bo made the remark on Wednesday while meeting in Beijing with Mexico's Economy Minister Eduardo Sojo, the statement said.
US toys giant Fisher-Price announced on Wednesday it was recalling nearly one million toys made in China due to fears they could be coloured with toxic lead-based paints.
In the latest of a slew of cases involving shoddily made and dangerous products imported from China, the US toymaker said it was recalling 967,000 products including popular Sesame Street and Dora, the Explorer-branded toys.
They were sold in US stores between May and August this year. The Fisher-Price recall comes amid increasing concern over health risks posed by food and other tainted products from China, including toothpaste and pet food.
Thousands of animals in the United States were poisoned from pet food additives made in China, one of a series of incidents that have exposed lax controls in Beijing's food quality control system.
They have proof that lead paint is safe?
And China thinks melamine should be one of the food groups.
And that toothpaste should double as anti-freeze.
Duncan Hunter is the ONLY presidential candidate talking about the China threats and trade imbalance. He mentioned it recently when he was on Hannity’s radio show at the Freedom Concert.
Hunter says the fruits of unfair trade practices should not be used against the U.S. economically and militarily.
There is an approximately $275 BILLION with a “B” trade imbalance with Red China EACH YEAR.
Hunter voted against NAFTA and a Most Favored Trade Status with China.
Hey Sun,
Loved your post.
I have been rabid about Hunter since George Will’s article about him.
We need a campaign headquarters in Tennessee.
I didn’t see Will’s article.
Would you happen to have a link handy?
“And that toothpaste should double as anti-freeze.”
VERY FUNNY!!
Sun,
See Will’s column (on Drudge) of Feb. 15.
After that I found his web site, and I was sold.
THANKS!
I’ll check it out.
"More than 99 percent of the products China exports are of good qualityJust the opposite would be an improvement on their quality.
“Just the opposite would be an improvement on their quality.”
You said it!
If China says it’s safe, I take that as proof positive that it’s lethal.
How did you know I like Duncan Hunter? :)
Just a wild guess? ;-)
A few weeks ago, pet owners were frantically checking their shelves for tainted food from China. Now, parents are frantically checking their children's toy boxes for Fisher-Price toys tainted with lead paint. Yet China insists that 99 percent of its exports are safe.
Follow this link to the original source: "China insists toy exports are safe"
Parents and pet owners should be furious. Actually all consumers should be furious. In our quest for all things that are cheap, we have allowed ourselves to be commanded by the almighty dollar and be won over by cheap imports. Not only are we beginning to find out the dangers of some of these products, but we have allowed this to lead to an exporting of American manufacturing and subsequently, American jobs.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time, nor will it be the last time, that dangerous deficiencies in quality and safety will be found in products from China. Last year, 300 Panamanians died after ingesting cough syrup tainted with diethylene glycol, a common ingredient in anti-freeze. The glycol originated from China and was sold as 99.5 percent pure glycerin, a harmless sweetening ingredient found in drugs. In the late 1980s, 76 children, mostly under 5 years of age, died in Haiti when diethylene glycol found its way from China into children's medicine.
In an important cover story on the subject of adulterated foods and other products from China, The New American magazine (an affiliate of the John Birch Society) reports: "Since the discovery of the melamine-laced pet food earlier this year, a catalog list of tainted and counterfeit export products has emerged, providing irrefutable evidence of China's deliberate attempt to dump dangerous products on the world market. From children's toys to toothpaste, the list continues to grow."
With the recent recall announcement from Fisher-Price, we should be reminded that this is the second toy recall due to lead paint in only 3 months. The first one in mid June was with Thomas and Friends miniature wooden railway sets. Where is the outrage? These are the toys that we give to our children to play with. Most parents would be incensed if a neighbor gave a dangerous object to one of their children. In the case of Chinese products, an entire nation, through callous disregard for human life or worse, is dumping dangerous goods on unsuspecting parents and their children.
Clearly, the "Made in China" label means much more than that a given product is just a cheap import. What will be the next Chinese products to be recalled? Most of us may not realize that China supplies America with 90 percent of its Vitamin C tablets or that China produces 70 percent of the world's penicillin, 50 percent of its aspirin and most of its vitamins. Chinese vitamins have been linked to causing meningitis in infants through Vitamin A (in Europe), and Americans have found traces of arsenic, lead and iron in discount products containing Vitamin C. Unfortunately, we are consuming both food and vitamins from China without even realizing it, as food labels rarely include a label of country origin. Some American farmers and ranchers are stepping up their sell-direct-to-consumer campaigns to provide much higher quality food in their locales.
Why do we continue to allow our government to merely slap the hands of the monopoly giant rather than demand action to keep imports safe? As The New American concludes, "Until the United States strengthens its ability to prevent the importation of dangerous goods, and significantly reverses the trade imbalance through a reduction in regulatory requirements and other measures, American consumers will be left to their own devices."
Contact Congress today and tell them to revisit a provision of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act to establish a country-of-origin label.
Bill Hahn Bill Hahn is the public relations manager for The John Birch Society.“Most of us may not realize that China supplies America with 90 percent of its Vitamin C tablets or that China produces 70 percent of the world’s penicillin, 50 percent of its aspirin and most of its vitamins. Chinese vitamins have been linked to causing meningitis in infants through Vitamin A (in Europe), and Americans have found traces of arsenic, lead and iron in discount products containing Vitamin C. Unfortunately, we are consuming both food and vitamins from China without even realizing it, as food labels rarely include a label of country origin.”
Very scarry. It makes me mad that we don’t even KNOW where some of the stuff is made. I take Vitamin C each day, as do many Americans.
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