An agreement in principle that will ensure the safety of Chinese
toys exported to the 25 countries of the European Union (EU) has
been reached, a top European Commission official said
yesterday.
Robert Madelin, director-general for health and consumer
protection of the European Commission -- a branch of the governing
body of EU, said that both sides had initialized an EU-China Road
Map for Safer Toys and were already in the process of
implementation.
Madelin leaves today after a three-day visit to China during
which he met with Chinese officials to discuss various issues
concerning health and safety.
China is the EU's largest toy exporter and accounts for 80
percent of the toy imports.
However, last year nearly 25 percent of reports to the
regulatory, Rapid Alert System for Non-Food Products, concerned
toys and 85 percent of those had been made in China.
He said his visit was aimed at making further progress on the
issue and paving the way for the signing of a formal agreement
later this year.
"We see a strong political will to implement it (the Road Map),"
said Madelin, who added that he had come to seek a "political
commitment" from the Chinese side.
The Road Map aims to improve the safety of Chinese toys exported
to the EU and provides a framework for training and technical
assistance, an exchange of Rapid Alert System information and a
mechanism for tracing dangerous products.
Madelin said "unbranded goods" accounted for most of the unsafe
products.
He cited a few common problems with toys exported to the EU and
made mention of metal toys with sharp edges.
"None of these issues are specific to China but the volume of
our trade with them means there's? a lot of potential to
remove these toys from the market if the smaller Chinese
manufacturers understand how to fix these problems," he said.
He said the EU was also attempting to educate smaller producers
through seminars and written material.
A seminar on toy safety will be held in July in Shenzhen, one of
the largest toy manufacturing cities in China, with the EU's
participation.
He also expected intermediate traders, whether Chinese or
European, to be more careful about their responsibilities and not
to pass unsafe goods onto the European market. .
(China Daily April 27, 2006)