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No rising tide of rogue Chinese imports-EU official
17 Jul 2007 17:01:58 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Darren Ennis

BRUSSELS, July 17 (Reuters) - Rogue Chinese consumer products are not flooding the European Union despite recent concerns over consumer safety, a senior EU official in charge of monitoring imports said on Tuesday.

A recent spate of incidents involving suspect Chinese products ranging from seafood to toothpaste that entered both EU and U.S. markets culminated in China executing a former drug and safety chief earlier this month for corruption.

"I would not say there is a flood of dangerous Chinese products on the EU market," said Stefano Soro, head of the European Commission's rapid alert system for non-food products known as RAPEX.

Last week, Spain withdrew two leading brands of Chinese-made toothpaste due to a risk to public health, while Britain issued an alert after contaminated counterfeit toothpaste was found.

Italian and Portuguese authorities are also checking similar brands of toothpaste for a possible consumer risk.

"Despite the recent issues, such as the unsafe toothpaste, I don't see a growing tide of unsafe Chinese products entering the EU market," Soro said, speaking ahead of a visit by EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Meglena Kuneva to China next week.

Kuneva will urge the Chinese authorities to step up their efforts to prevent unsafe products, particularly children's toys, being exported to the 27-nation bloc.

"We have an agreement with China since 2006 on this matter and the commissioner will be seeking delivery on this agreement from the Chinese," Kuneva's spokeswoman Helen Kearns said.

Under the RAPEX system, 48 percent of all products notified as unsafe in 2006 came from China compared with five percent from Germany, the next highest country of origin.

"The figures have been stable over the past few years and in fact the figures for this period in 2007 compared to the same period in 2006, show a drop from 48 to 46 percent in notifications on Chinese products," Soro said.

China has also been at the centre of recent health scares surrounding its fish and seafood exports.

The EU said last month it was increasing controls on Chinese food imports after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would not allow imports of certain Chinese seafoods until suppliers proved shipments were free from harmful residues.

Catfish, basa, shrimp, dace and eel will not be allowed into the United States from China until the importer can show that the products meet U.S. requirements and safety standards.
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People wade through a flooded road after heavy rains in the eastern Indian state of Bihar July 25, 2007. Floods have inundated large stretches of the country since the start of this year's monsoon season, killing about 750 people and displacing more than eight million.



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