A Chinese official Wednesday called on the United States to
strengthen cooperation with China on improving product safety,
saying the two sides share a common responsibility.
"Every country bears the responsibility of ensuring product
quality and food safety. China and the U.S. should strengthen
cooperation between relevant departments to jointly improve product
safety and quality," said Li Changjiang, director of the General
Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine.
Product quality and food safety are major issues in the third
China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue, which opened in Beijing on
Wednesday.
Li said the Chinese government was taking seriously quality
problems in exports to the U.S. and was determined to solve
them.
"But some of the problems lie with the importers and designers
of the United States; such as some potential safety problems in the
design of the toys, so the U.S. should take the initiative to
shoulder the responsibility in these areas," Li said.
Product criteria in both countries were different so both
governments should strengthen communication in studying the
criteria, Li said.
He said China and the U.S. had maintained close contact and
achieved consensus on the issue of product quality and food
safety.
"The U.S. government should take a pragmatic attitude on this
issue, and I believe, with expanding cooperation of both sides,
positive information will be sent out to the public and consumers"
Li said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2007)
