Eleven substandard products made by 11 different enterprises are to be compulsorily recalled, according to a notice issued by the Quality and Technology Supervision Bureau (QTSB) in south China's Guangdong Province.
This has happened in China for the first time and it has been done to prevent the faulty products from endangering consumers' health or property, local sources said Friday.
The recalled products include an air-conditioner, a lamp, a mobile phone charger and a kind of fodder. The products, worth about 2 million yuan (US$240,000), will be kept off the market until their faults have been corrected.
The QTSB has ordered stores to stop selling blacklisted commodities and any reject products which have been sold are to be recalled. Consumers who bought the products will be entitled to a refund, according to the QTSB notice.
In the past, China's quality and technology supervision departments have issued an internal notice about any problems in the quality of products and demanded enterprises improve the quality.
In fact, a growing number of enterprises in China have taken the initiative to recall substandard products. Guangzhou Honda is now changing defective parts in more than 3,000 cars free of charge, which had brought a positive response from customers.
Experts say enterprises taking proactive measures to ensure consumers' benefits will out-do those who delay putting faults right in the market competition.
China regards the system of recalling substandard products as extremely important.
At present, China is formulating detailed rules and regulations for the recall of faulty products.
(Xinhua News Agency August 10, 2002)
