Posted by
Bill Eldridge on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/bigger-plans-bigger-little-mistakes-tp523782p523827.html
Raymond Parks wrote:
> Another problem with buying from China (figuratively and
> specifically) is that we keep rediscovering the consequences of their
> not following unwritten or written standards. The current pet food
> poisoning scandal is an example of this effect. The Chinese don't care
> that wheat and rice gluten is contaminated as long as it meets the
> contract requirements for protein levels. So far, we're lucky that this
> has only affected our pets (I'm not downplaying that effect - one of
> mine has been harmed - I'm just being realistic) and not people. The
> same products from the same sources are used in human foods.
>
>
I love the way people use a wide brush to paint all of China.
AFAIK we're talking about 1 company out of how many in China?
That regulating industry in China is difficult is no surprise - they have
over 4 times the population, swiftly growing industry and less of a legal
or regulatory structure to deal with it.
However I had a client for an over-the-counter health supplement last year
trying to get it into China, but had the effort fall apart - too many
deaths on such
unregulated products so the government had stepped in to make sure
this stopped, making any new efforts unpropitious. Is that the action of
a government
that doesn't care about standards? Recently the government has been
helping people
understand better their legal recourse on environmental issues - at the
same time
a lot of corruption filters through the government to allow
environmental abuse.
It's a complicated situation, but I think the West would do well to try
to understand
the situation and how much China is working towards solutions even while
there
are areas of horrid weakness, little progress and excesses. I think we
had such
contradictions in our own 19th Century. As importantly, I think we have
to understand
how we're cooperating with and competing against China, and it's
typically not in the
way that makes Lou Dobbs.