KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - China called for cooler heads to prevail in a widening scandal over product safety, accusing critics of exploiting concerns about specific cases to erect barriers to its exports in general.
In the latest incident, the Dominican Republic has banned the sale of two brands of Chinese
toothpaste for containing a lethal chemical responsible for dozens of poisoning deaths in Panama last year.
Chinese customs officials and directors of food and quality watchdogs are investigating but Danyang Household Chemical Company, which exported the toothpaste, defended its product. "Toothpaste is not something you'd swallow, but spit out, and so it's totally different from something you would eat," a manager said.
Consumers in the United States have been alarmed by a spate of pet deaths blamed on tainted wheat gluten and rice protein exported from China, as well as reports of toxins and disease in other Chinese exports. That has helped make food safety the latest flashpoint in often tense trade ties between the nations.
Vice-Premier Wu Yi has been in Washington this week for trade talks. Senior US officials who took part singled out the safety of Chinese food and medicine as among Washington's top concerns. "The Chinese Government clearly understands the world marketplace will swiftly disadvantage any nation or economy or firm that is not able to establish a sense of confidence and reliability," Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said.
The China Daily said that Chinese products were generally safe and cheap, but admitted that authorities had bungled the crisis. "Our quality watchdogs have an obligation to demonstrate that Chinese exports are safe." But it urged "all beneficiaries of Chinese exports to maintain cool heads amid possibly unfair allegations against Chinese exports."
Sun Jiong, director of the China Food Industries Production Promotion Centre, said he believed the main issue was one of trade protection, rather than any inherent problems with the country's quality controls. "Countries try to practise trade protection ... by saying they're raising standards."
In the Dominican Republic case, authorities confiscated 200,000 tubes of toothpaste, imported from Panama and sold under the brand names Excel and Mr Cool, said Eduardo Rodriguez, a senior Dominican Customs official. Panama pulled thousands of toothpaste tubes from stores last week after tests showed they contained high levels of diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical used in engine coolants.
- REUTERS