China urges global co-op to enhance safety of consumer goods

SHANGHAI - China's quality watchdog on Tuesday called for joint efforts from other countries to enhance the safety of consumer goods.

Zhi Shuping, director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said all nations should step up collaboration and share responsibilities to beef up the safety of consumer goods, as it has become a global concern today.

Zhi made the remarks as quality watchdogs from China, the United States and the European Union issued a joint statement, outlining co-operation plans after they ended their two-day meeting in Shanghai Tuesday.

The three regulators agreed that improved training and management of product designers, producers, importers and retailers, and a comprehensive quality control system, were pre-conditions for product safety, according to the statement.

Quality regulators should take concrete actions to improve safety from the process of supply to distribution, the statement said.

They also considered the possibility of unifying product trace systems and making comparisons between the quality standards of important products made by different nations.

Zhi said the joint statement was not only an outcome of the efforts by the three watchdogs, it also reflected their commitment to the world and future.

To improve the quality of consumer goods, the three regulators established a co-operation mechanism in 2008. It was their second meeting after the first one in Brussels in November 2008.

source:Xinhua