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. ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
