Chinese Imports to be More Closely Monitored

Over the past year problems with Chinese products being
imported to the United States have been well documented. Whether it was the seemingly
never-ending recalls of Chinese-made toys containing lead paint or the recall
of the blood-thinner Heparin which was found to be contaminated during the Chinese-based portion of the manufacturing process, it has been an all too common occurrence
and increased pressure from industry and the American public are starting to
show up in policy.

The FDA’s budget was recently significantly increased to provide
for the demanding need for additional inspections on foreign manufacturing plants. Health and Human Services Secretary, Mike Leavitt, now claims that as
many as 15 new Chinese-based inspectors will arrive in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou
as early as October. Health and Human Services have also announced plans to
open a Chinese office in the near future.

Leavitt
told Bloomberg that China’s government has already been working to improve the
safety of the country’s exports. “I don’t think they’ve got the problem
completely solved, but it was clear to them that the made-in-China brand was
affected by product-quality problems and they moved aggressively to begin
making progress,” he said.

While
this probably will not completely eliminate future problems with Chinese-made goods
it will hopefully have a huge impact on preventing dangerous products from ever
making it to American soil.