The checks did not cover exports

Jul 4, 2007

BEIJING, July 4 (Reuters) - Nearly a fifth of goods Chinese quality inspectors checked in the first half of this year were below standard, the government revealed on Wednesday as it faced continued pressure over toxic and potentially dangerous exports.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine put the best light on its latest report, stressing that 80.9 percent of 7,200 products inspected passed scrutiny and that overall quality was improving.

But that left 19.1 percent of the tested goods laced with toxins or too many additives, without safety protections or lacking required label information, according to the report issued on the government Web site (www.gov.cn).

Among smaller manufacturers, the failure rate was 27.1 percent.

The report said the checks did not cover exports.

Beijing has faced criticism from Washington for failing to stop shipments of toxic medical ingredients, foods and toys, and China's own national leadership has demanded stricter food and medicine standards.

"When serious quality problems are found, they will be strictly punished according to the law so that product quality is protected from the source," the Administration report said.

Problem goods included jelly snacks, drinks, canned fruit, water dispensers and dried fish, with many foods containing high levels of bacteria or additives.

One fifth of fruit drinks failed inspection.

Fertilisers, pesticides and other farming products also had an overall failure rate of 19.5 percent.

China's product safety failings have drawn international attention since mislabelled chemical exports were found in cough syrup in Panama and pet food in the United States.

As well as its own increasingly anxious consumers, China faces a backlash from the United States over quality worries.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said last week it would not allow imports of Chinese farm-raised seafood unless suppliers could prove the shipments held no harmful residues.

Beijing has criticised such moves as over-reacting to isolated problems, and on Tuesday the foreign ministry said international media reports had exaggerated China's quality problems.

"Media alarmism has created panic," ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news conference. "The problem products that have been reported on are, I think, after all, a tiny minority."

Chinese media reported last week that 180 domestic food manufacturers were shut down over the previous six months for making substandard products or using inedible materials.

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