Chinese importers to conduct consumer safety talks with US

After the incessant recall of Chinese-made toys last week, Senator Dick Durbin asked US importers to conduct an inspection on all toys that will come from China. The Democrat senator said that Chinese importers have been practicing negligent standards on safety, which is why American toy firms must let third party companies to inspect the quality of imported toys coming from the said Asian country.

Meanwhile, Zhao Baoqing, a commerce official based in China's embassy in the US, said that inspections of products must be part of the trade deal between importers and exporters. He added that making the third-party inspection on all products coming from China mandatory will undermine businesses of the brand-holders. By the end of this month and in September, delegations from China are expected to conduct talks with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Food and Drug Administration. Zhao asked the US to cooperate and try to create solutions through diplomatic talks instead of publicizing its complaints.

However, as an alleged reprisal to the damage made to Chinese-labeled products, China has barred pork products coming from US importers. Beijing officials said that pork products from the US may have ractopamine, a pig feed additive and growth hormone that is prohibited in China.

It must be noted that Mattel, a US-based toy manufacturer recalled millions of toys last week after the discovery of lead content in the paint used for the said items. Aside from lead, the toymaker also found that other toys brought by Chinese importers to the country have small magnets that were loose. Playsets including Polly Pocket, Doggie Daycare, One Piece, Batman Magna, and Cars were among the affected toys that were recalled in the US, UK, Ireland, and in some countries in Asia. The said recall of toys was the most recent issue on the series of alarming reports about the safety of products brought by Chinese importers to the US.

Nations feature in international trade issues

The United States trade office recently urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) to stop China's copyright piracy, saying that last June's bilateral talks with China about its lenient anti-piracy policies and weak anti-counterfeiting measures have failed. China is said to threaten international trade for impeding the businesses of legitimate companies. Music and computer software industries are said to lose billions of sales due to China's inability to curb copyright theft, which affect international trade industries.

Sean Spicer, spokesperson for US trade representative Susan Schwab, said that while they recognize China's efforts to improve its enforcement on intellectual property rights, there are still more issues to be taken into consideration. The US trade office hopes a WTO intervention will force China to impose aggressive means on enforcing international trade standards on piracy violators.

Meanwhile, despite verbal tirades from U.S. officials over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), international trade representatives from the United States, Canada, and Mexico held a two-day talk in Canada to discuss key economic concerns. Among the issues raised are the possibility of granting more goods with duty-free treatment as well as improving trade on steel trade, consumer electronics, and swine.

Part of the issues hurled against the agreement are environmental and labor conditions. However, Schwab insisted that the NAFTA agreement is future-oriented. As of 2005, a US$288 billion surge was attributed to international trade between US and Mexico, while an US$18 billion economic boost between Canada and Mexico was reported.

In another news, members of the East African Community (EAC) finally put aside their differences to come up with a unified decision regarding the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The document is said to be crucial in establishing the future of the East African nations in the international trade scene.

The EPA is eyed to solve the aftermaths of European Union's (EU) enforcement of the General System of Preferences (GSP) policy. The GSP is among the international trade regulatory rules and guidelines that must be followed and considered by states eying to do business with EU. Meanwhile, beating the December 31 deadline is said to be most beneficial to Kenya with the threat of losing Sh100 billion worth of international trade and investment if EPA would not take its course by the end of the year.