China Industries International
their new corporate logo...
Posted on 07/22/2007 8:02:51 AM PDT by UB355
Chinese recalls unnerve shoppers News of tainted food and other products makes consumers wary By ELLEN GABLER egabler@journalsentinel.com
Buying products from China makes Andrew Pace nervous.
Pesticides are sprayed on the containers that carry his company's building materials into the country. But he doesn't know what kind of pesticides, and he doesn't know how toxic they are.
His customers are nervous too. When buying the popular bamboo floors that Waukesha-based Safe Building Solutions sells, customers recently have asked to talk with the farmers in China who grow and harvest the bamboo - to make sure it is truly safe and environmentally friendly.
"The fact that these products are produced in China, it just automatically raises red flags with our customers," Pace said.
Pace now stocks fewer China-made products because he doesn't like feeling like an uninformed middleman.
"We don't know if what we're being told is correct," he said. "I can't just get in my car and go over there and go look."
"Made in China" once stood for good deals. But the country has landed in the spotlight after exporting contaminated pet food, faulty tires, toothpaste laced with chemicals and lead-laden toys such as Thomas the Train engines and wooden drums. Such recalls are raising questions among businesses and consumers alike.
"I think it is definitely a concern," said Jill Ploeckelman, as she shopped in a Brown Deer Toys "R" Us with her 14-month old daughter, Harper. "She puts everything in her mouth."
Products from China are being recalled at a higher rate than in the past. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission expects to recall about 450 products this year, about 60% from China - up from less than 50% in previous years, said Scott Wolfson, the commission's deputy director for public affairs.
The concerns extend to food as well. In late June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration halted imports on five types of farm-raised fish from China because they might have contained chemicals that eventually cause cancer.
In Washington, the recent rash of recalls has increased pressure on government agencies to determine how to better regulate and inspect the millions of products imported from China each year. On Wednesday, President Bush established a panel to recommend steps to improve the safety of food and other imports. China reacts
China is taking the matter seriously as well. The country's former top food and drug regulator was executed this month for accepting bribes to approve substandard medicine. The Chinese government also promised to increase inspection of drugs and other exports and has shut down about 180 factories that put chemicals in food.
Both countries have a major interest in quelling business and consumer fears as China's interaction with the United States grows. In 2006, the U.S. imported $287.8 billion in goods from China, more than double the amount imported in 2002.
Multinational companies also have a big stake in making sure China products are safe, considering the country is their major manufacturing hub, said Marshall Meyer, a China expert and professor of management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
"The market can do things a lot quicker than politicians can," Meyer said.
In response to the recalls, agencies such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration are trying to work with the Chinese government more vigilantly.
"We can only assure consumers that we have a China plan," Wolfson said. Consumers "need to stay informed of the recalls and know the government is working on their behalf."
Domestically, investigators are focusing on the marketplace to make sure products are safe and retailers are in compliance with recalls. Wolfson said the commission has also gained greater access to a database of products coming into U.S. ports. That allows the commission to target and test "red flag" products - such as toys from China with small parts or seafood.
However, it is impossible to test all products coming into the country, especially considering the size of regulatory agencies. The commission has about 400 full-time employees, an amount some lawmakers say needs to be boosted.
Wolfson said the commission is "dealing with the reality of being a small agency with a limited ability to detect and test a vast number of the products coming into the country, especially from China."
The FDA has a similar difficulty, in that it tests less than 1% of all imports, down from 1.5% in 1997.
Because of this, consumer advocates and regulatory officials say consumers must be their own watchdogs.
"Products are not tested or certified by the government before they come onto shelves," said Rachel Weintrout, director of product safety and senior council at Consumer Federation of America, a consumer interest advocacy organization.
The recall page of the Consumer Product Safety Commission's Web site lists trinkets, toys and other products recalled because of dangerous lead content or other safety violations. The FDA has a similar recall page on its Web site, or people can visit www.recalls.govfor a compilation of government agencies recalling products.
The product recalls have dotted through many stores in southern Wisconsin.
In February, Family Dollar stores recalled nearly 300,000 children's play rings for high lead content. Twenty-four of their stores are in the metro Milwaukee-area.
Family Dollar buys about 60% of its products from China, and tests its own products, said Kiley Rawlins, vice president of communications for the Charlotte, N.C.-based company. Because of the recent recalls, Family Dollar is reviewing its products and "working to strengthen our testing protocols" and vendor standards, Rawlins said.
Other nationwide chains have been affected as well. In February, Easy-Bake Ovens made in China were pulled from the shelves of Toys "R" Us, Wal-Mart and Target stores because children were getting their hands trapped in the oven doors. In May, Target Corp. rid its stores of a China-made Anima-Bamboo Collection game because toys in the game might have contained lead.
Once a product is recalled, manufacturers are supposed to notify retailers to pull the products off their shelves. Stores are then required to conspicuously hang posters announcing the recalls. They can face civil fines for not complying. But the recalls are effective only if people hear about them. And until something is recalled, it is almost impossible to tell which products are hazardous.
The Journal Sentinel sent seven toys made in China to be tested for lead. The crayons, toy trucks, costume jewelry and other trinkets were each bought for less than $5 at local toy or dollar stores. S-F Analytical Laboratories in Milwaukee found that none of the toys had dangerous levels of lead in them.
The uncertainty of the situation leaves some parents a little exasperated.
"You know in the back of your mind," that some products are dangerous, said Liran Amir of Glendale, who has a 15-month-old daughter, Harel. "But there is a limit to how much you can do."
Amir said he doesn't know how to stay updated on what products aren't safe for his daughter.
His wife, Sahar Amir, is more laid back.
"Nothing happened to us as babies," she said.
Food safety is equally important, but it is not realistic - or necessary - to shun all food made in China, said Urvashi Rangan, a senior scientist and policy analyst for Consumer Reports.
Rangan suggests that people stay updated on food recalls and ask where their fare is from, even in restaurants.
China Industries InternationalIf you say so. I associate "Made in China" with cheap junk.
Back when tire manufacturing firms announced their intent to close their American factories and start importing from China, many of us on this very forum strongly cautioned that this was a bad idea. We were promptly shouted down.
We were assured they would have to meet safety standards before they were allowed on the road. That didn’t happen. It’s a good thing that some businessman got to pocket a few extra dollars selling faulty products to consumers, I guess.
“Made in China” means this product is a hazard to your health.
” ... many of us on this very forum strongly cautioned that this was a bad idea. We were promptly shouted down.”
I want to believe freepers are all good people. I have seen posts, and I’m sure some freepers believe you should be on your own in the marketplace. If someone sells you bad stuff, even dangerous stuff, it’s your fault for not being more careful. That’s not my definition of “good people”.
The root cause of China’s product problem is the continued state ownership of businesses. Since the managers involved have no direct ownership of the business and are likely rewarded only by production quotas, there is every incentive to knowingly pad things with shoddy or dangerous raw materials for personal gain. It was the same situation in the former Soviet Union where production quotas were overfilled for bonuses by making faulty products. e.g., the glass factory that made window glass thinner to produce more square meters of glass from the available raw materials...needless to say most of this glass was broken before leaving the factory.
Whoa there!
I can buy mandarin orange segments shipped from China. I read reports 90% of China's groundwater is polluted. How can I tell if the water in which the mandarin orange segments are packed is polluted and poisonous?
How about tires?
Am I supposed to ask if a sample of the product I am about to buy can be loaned to me to take home first and tested in my extensive consumer testing laboratory?
Are they going to let me put several thousand miles on a sample tire to see if it holds up?
The average consumer has NO WAY to test potentially dangerous products before purchase!
“The average consumer has NO WAY to test potentially dangerous products before purchase!”
Read my comment. I agree with you. There are many here, keep reading, that would tell you the market will adjust.
I would add endemic corruption to their problems, not just state ownership.
The meaning of truth and trust in China is simply different than we can even fathom.
In a small example, for instance, no Chinese client of mine would ever pay a bill using bank debit (EFT). They fear someone stealing money directly from the bank account, in the form of massive undisclosed fees from a bank, company or government agency, which they feel unprotected against.
They seem to feel we (Americans) are naive for “trusting” banks.
My husband just experienced two catastrophic tire failures in the space of 3 months. Both occurred at highway speeds and could easily have killed a less skilled driver. I have my suspicions about where the tires were manufactured.
Whoa!!!!....they don't mess around over there, do they?
FMCDH(BITS)
They didn’t execute him because a few hundred foreigners have died. They executed him because it was bad for business and will cost them money.
Check this out:
http://www.lamanaphotography.com/walmart.htm
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