KEY POINTS:
BEIJING - The head of a Chinese toy manufacturing company at the centre of a huge United States recall has committed suicide, a state-run newspaper said yesterday.
Zhang Shuhong, who ran the Lee Der Industrial Co, killed himself in a warehouse at the weekend, days after China said it had temporarily banned exports by the company, the Southern Metropolis Daily said.
Lee Der made 967,000 toys recalled this month by Mattel because they were made with paint found to have excessive amounts of lead.
Meanwhile, Beijing city authorities will reward citizens who report food safety concerns to officials, state media said yesterday, after a TV reporter was jailed for cooking up a report about dumplings made with cardboard.
China has been shaken by a wave of safety scares over products ranging from toys to toothpaste and food laced with toxins, bacteria and dangerous additives, and has fought back through news briefings, new rules and promises of more spending.
Food safety has taken on added urgency in the run-up to the Olympics in August next year.
A new regulation, which is being drafted by the Beijing legislature, will "let people play an active role to safeguard the city's food table", the Beijing Youth Daily said, citing a top city legislator.
In previous drafts, the city would only reward reporters of food safety issues when they provided "important clues, information or proof", the newspaper added.
It did not give details of how citizens would be rewarded.
The regulation would also increase penalties on officials who hold responsibility for food safety accidents, it said.
"The main Government officials or managers would be warned, demoted or sacked if food safety accidents which cause serious social impact happen frequently in their administered districts," the newspaper said.
Despite repeated Government assurances that it is taking a responsible attitude towards food and drug safety, there has been little let-up in the barrage of bad news.
- Reuters
