The Chinese Lesson
Cardboard in your siopao. Toxins in your pet food. Harmful ingredients in your medicine and processed food products. The “Made in China” label is taking a rough beating as reports of adulterated, contaminated, hazardous and generally substandard Chinese products continue to come out. Beijing, in an effort to reassure the international community that it is doing something about quality control, has executed a former top official who gave the green light for many of the products in question. Erring companies have been shut down and the owners arrested and prosecuted.The Chinese economic juggernaut has survived complaints from the international community about unfair trade practices including blatant theft of intellectual property rights and violations of civil liberties in the name of economic development. But the scandal over the safety of products manufactured in China has hit the country hard, with demand for its products plunging worldwide. Chinese officials are scrambling to contain the damage.
While the world waits for that containment, Philippine officials should do their part in protecting the public from unsafe food products and medicine, whether for humans or animals. Because of corruption, incompetence and the weakness of the regulatory environment, the country has often been made a dumping ground for hazardous and even banned products from overseas. Substances declared by other countries to be unsafe for use or consumption by humans or animals or deemed bad for the environment continue to be sold in the Philippines until the supply runs out.
This time, with the global alarm over hazardous or defective products from China, Philippine authorities have no excuse to be sleeping on the job. Consumers must be protected and public health safeguarded. China has flooded the world with designer label knockoffs and dirt-cheap products, and among the biggest consumers of such products are the poor. Producing goods at bargain basement prices is fine as long as fair trade rules are followed. The products should also give value for money and should not endanger public health or the environment. Until China can reassure the world of the safety of its products, Philippine authorities should take a closer look at imports from China. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
