Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - China ships worry along with exports

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - China ships worry along with exports
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
July 8, 2007


As China has grown into a 1,000-pound gorilla in international affairs, the United States, in its complicated relationship with the Asian superpower, has lacked the power to curtail a host of abuses: its human rights violations, its threats against Taiwan, its unconscionable blocking of U.N. action against genocide in Sudan, its soaring greenhouse gas emissions. But distressed and angered by the increasing volume of contaminated food and defective products being exported by China to this country, the federal government -- and U.S. importers and consumers -- are beginning to feel a sense of power over the situation, knowing how much China depends on the American market.

The sickly trend first hit the fan when it was revealed pet food from China containing an industrial waste product was responsible for killing thousands of dogs and cats in this country. Since that uproar, we have read reports of hundreds of thousands of tubes of Chinese-manufactured toothpaste containing a poison used in antifreeze products turning up in mental institutions, juvenile detention centers and prisons in Georgia and North Carolina. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has ordered a recall of thousands of faulty light truck tires made in China that had the potential for the rollover disasters. We learned that toys from China, including Thomas & Friends wooden train sets, had been treated, unbelievably, with lead paint. Now, the hot topic is seafood from China -- the source of 21 percent of seafood imported by America -- testing positive for contamination from carcinogens and antibiotics and containing banned chemicals and additives.

Can we trust in anything made in China? Not only are Americans asking that, so are the Chinese following an official nationwide survey there that found nearly 20 percent of its food and consumer products were substandard or tainted. The Food and Drug Administration correctly has stepped up its inspection of Chinese seafood, taking the lead from southern states in declaring a ban on fish that doesn't pass safety tests. China, fearful of its $35 billion seafood-farming industry taking it in the chin, says it is cracking down on factories for food safety violations. With a second Chinese food official in two months sentenced to death on corruption charges, we can assume China's denials and complaints about the U.S. testing "indiscriminately" are history.

Clearly, with calls in Congress for stronger measures against Chinese imports, the alarm has been sounded. The problem is, China has so increased its role as a food provider for America, exporting everything from apple juice concentrate to processed vegetables, there aren't nearly enough inspectors on the front lines to do a proper test of the imports. And rejecting Chinese goods is easier said than done for consumers. A five-year-old law requiring country-of-origin labeling on foods is enforced with seafood, but lobbyists have fended off its enforcement with meats, produce and nuts. We suspect as this issue heats up, that problem will be corrected. But the larger problem of bad Chinese exports is one that isn't going away soon. Though experts say no immediate health threat is posed by the bad fish, that bad taste in our mouths caused by dirty goods may only get worse.