China must do more for consumer product safety: EU

The European Commission is not satisfied with China's record on dealing with consumer product safety, a commissioner said Monday, unveiling record high levels of dangerous goods. The comment came as the EU's executive arm released new figures on dangerous goods, showing that a record number were found throughout the European Union last year, with more than half coming from China, in particular hazardous toys.
The commission's rapid alert system for non-food goods, RAPEX, said a total of 1,866 unsafe products were brought to its attention in 2008, a 16 percent increase on the previous year.
Products from China accounted for 59 percent of the goods reported, substantially up from 52 percent in 2007 and 49 percent in 2006. In only half of the Chinese cases which came to light, preventive or restrictive measures were carried out to deal with the problem. One of the biggest problems was identifying the responsible Chinese companies involved.
"This is not good enough as we stated in 2007," said EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Maglena Kuneva, though admitting that the level of action was much better than in previous years. "It is an improvement (but) no I am not satisfied, and I am working with Chinese authorities " to remedy the problems, she told reporters in Brussels. "We shouldn't take this as a signal to close our markets.
We need good, non-dangerous products from China, but not at the expense of safety," she stressed. Toys made up almost a third of the dangerous products recalled world-wide. The flood of Chinese-made toys has been a growing concern in recent years, with US giant Mattel recalling more than 21 million such items in 2007 alone. The next largest sectors for recalls were electrical appliances, which made up 11 percent of the total cases, motor vehicles (10 percent) and clothing (nine percent).
After China, the European Union as a bloc was the next largest culprit being responsible for one in five reported hazardous consumer products. Industrial powerhouse Germany alone accounted for five percent of the world total of products deemed to present a risk of physical or chemical injury, choking, electric shock, fire and other hazards. Last November the European Union and China signed a deal to improve consumer safety amid the continuing health fears over Chinese products imported into Europe.