Monday, July 30, 2007
Chinese Imports affecting the Health of US Consumers
I recently read a news article that placed emphasis on the many issues that we have been having with Chinese imports. I'm sure you all have heard about the wheat gluten from China which caused many pets to become ill and even die. Due to our increased dependence on Chinese imports, there have been several issues with inspection of these goods. Due to budget cuts, only 1% of Chinese goods coming into our ports are actually inspected. There have also been recalls on toothpaste which contained antifreeze chemicals and the use of formaldehyde within their meat products, as well as the use of lead within paint that was applied to children's toys. With China's imports constituting 40% of all foreign imports, why isn't something being implemeted to insure the safety of consumers? I understand that China's "standards" may not be the same as the US, but If we are their highest export source, then they need to follow the US standards of consumer goods. It makes me second guess the "Made in China" labels.
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2 comments:
Chinese imports make up 40% of all our foreign imports because they're probably the cheapest. And, the reason that their standards are not as high as ours is probably because they know we'll keep importing from them so they don't change. I'm not trying to imply the fact that the chinese inspection process is the greatest because it's not. But, the goods that are under par should be our responsibility. We should be checking all goods before they go on the market, but then again not every mistake will be caught. Everybody is after all human and humans make mistakes.
I agree somewhat with what your saying, import inspectors should pay closer attention, but with budget cuts, there arent enough of them employed. If there weren't so many instances of bad imports from China, now with the new recall on "Dora the explorer" dolls and other toys, do you really think that its all of our fault that these instances continue to occur? China knows that our standards of consumer goods are higher, so they should accomidate for it since we are their biggest trade relation. Humans DO make mistakes, but this isn't the case in this issue, its that they are using these methods as cost cutting strategies, which is treatening our health.
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