U.S. Official Urges Chinese Vigilance

Tuesday, August 28th 2007, 7:15 am

By: News On 6

BEIJING (AP) _ China needs to effectively address its product safety problems, a U.S. lawmaker said Tuesday as the country launched a campaign to weed out unqualified manufacturers amid a global recall of Chinese-made toys.

Toys are among a lengthening list of Chinese exports that have been found to contain high levels of chemicals and toxins, triggering worldwide concerns and numerous recalls of goods ranging from toothpaste to pet food ingredients.

``This is a very real problem,'' said Rep. Rick Larsen, who was on a weeklong visit to China. ``It's visceral.''

``It's about your child, and it's about your pet, and it's about food on the table,'' said Larsen, a Democrat from Washington state. ``You can't get more personal than that for Americans, and so it does need to be addressed.''

Larsen and Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., are co-chairs of the U.S.-China Working Group, which is focusing on the expansion of export opportunities to China for small- and medium-sized U.S. businesses.

Larsen and Kirk met Tuesday with officials from the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. According to Larsen, the Chinese officials said they recognized there was a problem and that it was being fixed.

Before Congress' August recess, Kirk introduced the bipartisan Import Safety Act of 2007, which would increase penalties against importers of contaminated goods by 100 times. Food and toy violations resulting in death would now mean fines of $50 million instead of $500,000.

Larsen urged U.S. importers to get more involved in the process. He said their businesses could suffer, especially around Christmas ``if the American public does get to the point where they are ... specifically looking for products that are not made in China.''

The legislation also provides funding to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for overseas inspections of processed foods and toothpaste.

China's crackdown on toy makers comes two weeks after Mattel Inc., the world's largest toy maker, recalled almost 19 million dolls, cars and action figures because they contained lead paint or tiny magnets that could damage organs if swallowed by children.

``An examination will be conducted across the country on licensed Chinese toy producers and exporters to clear out those unqualified ones,'' the quality administration said on its Web site.

``Export toy quality certificates will be revoked for those companies who are found to have serious problems in quality management and product safety control,'' the administration said.

Chen Xitong, an administration official, said the program would begin Tuesday.

It is part of a four-month program aimed at improving overall quality _ from food to drugs to consumer products _ as China fights to shore up its battered reputation as a safe exporter.

The recall by Mattel centered around 18.2 million Batman and Polly Pocket dolls, and Barbie play sets, which were pulled from the shelves because of a revision of international standards in May that required safety warnings for toys with magnets or magnetic components not attached tightly.

Another 436,000 toy ``Sarge'' cars, based on a character from the movie ``Cars,'' were also recalled because they contained lead.

No injuries were reported in connection with the recall.

While Chinese officials have promised stricter supervision of the industry, they have also blamed what they say are varying global quality standards and faulty U.S. designs.

Li Changjiang, who heads the quality watchdog, said the recalled toys made up a small part of the 22 billion toys exported from China last year.