Unsafe Imports Raise Concerns That Must Be Addressed
September 18, 2007, A trip to the supermarket or toy store shouldn’t put someone at a grave health risk, but the number of warnings related to imported food and consumer products gives Americans cause for concern.
The Food and Drug Administration’s warnings on Chinese products in this year alone form a disconcerting timeline. In March, pet food was recalled after it caused sickness and death in numerous pets. In May, the warnings were for toothpaste with poisonous chemicals. A month later, the FDA announced new controls on certain fish and seafood from China.
Those are just the alerts from the FDA alone. Other agencies have issued warnings about various Chinese exports this year. In June, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration required a recall after tires made in China were found to have a major safety defect. And in every month from March to September, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued new warnings on potential dangers in children’s toys ranging from books to bracelets to Barbies.
The volume of goods imported from China makes the recalls and warnings even more worrisome. The United States imported $288 billion worth of goods from China in 2006, making China the second largest source of U.S. imports. Among all U.S. imports, China supplied 86 percent of imported toys, 24 percent of animal food products, 22 percent of tires, and 19 percent of fish and seafood.
The U.S. import-safety system is no longer equipped to handle the volume of imports. A recent news article reported that the FDA “inspects less than 1 percent of goods under its jurisdiction, while the Consumer Product Safety Commission has fewer than 100 inspectors and investigators nationwide.”
We must take precautions to ensure imported goods do not pose health or safety threats to those who purchase them. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is holding hearings to determine what steps to take to ensure the quality of both domestic and imported goods. As a senior member of the committee, I am supporting legislation to increase the number of inspectors who are working to keep consumers safe. We should work strategically and invest our resources in targeting inspections of high-risk products.
Public-private partnerships will play a role in keeping our imports safe. Companies that import goods should bear some responsibility in ensuring that those goods do not come with health and safety risks. We also should take a look at our trade agreements and demand that countries work to improve their own regulations on the safety of exported food and consumer products if they want to be a trading partner of ours.
If we address this problem now, we can all rest a little easier when purchasing that next tube of toothpaste or train set.
