China 'not giving information on recalled goods'

China has not kept promises to provide information about what actions it has taken against makers of products recalled in Europe, the European Union’s consumer protection chief says.

Beijing committed to giving detailed quarterly reports in January 2006, but had only delivered two, said EU consumer commissioner Meglena Kuneva at a news conference in Beijing.

“The first report was very poor,” Kuneva said. “The second was better but still not sufficient. That’s why I am here.”

Kuneva’s comments came amid global concerns over the safety of Chinese goods because of potentially dangerous levels of chemicals found in products ranging from toothpaste to pet food and toys.

A Japanese official said the quality of Chinese exports was a huge issue in his country, where millions of Chinese-made toothpaste products were recalled last month after diethylene glycol, a thickening agent used in antifreeze, was found.

“It’s going to remain one of the biggest concerns for the foreseeable future,” Tomohiko Taniguchi of the Japanese foreign ministry said during a visit to Hong Kong.

Chinese authorities, initially reticent about addressing the issue, have been making efforts to reassure the world and regain consumer confidence. Quality officials have promised stricter surveillance and have threatened severe punishment for violators.

Kuneva, who met the head of China’s product safety watchdog on Monday, said they agreed that Beijing would submit a report on prevention and follow-up actions to European alerts by October. This comes ahead of a November meeting between Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

“China is in a position really to prove how serious it is about investigating more thoroughly the problems we identify,” she said.

Kuneva defended EU bans on Chinese imports deemed dangerous or unsafe, saying they were dealt with in the same way as unsafe products from any other third country or Europe.

“There is no double standard,” she said.

In 2006, the EU identified 924 products – from unsafe lighters to wobbly strollers and short-circuiting kettles – as too dangerous to be sold in its 27 member nations, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. China was the country of origin in almost half of the cases.

More than a quarter of all goods the EU imports are from China.

Kuneva also planned to tour a toy inspection laboratory and several toy factories in the eastern province of Jiangsu during her five-day visit.

Yesterday, the state-run Beijing Evening News said officials were promising Beijing food producers and sellers lighter punishments if they voluntarily recalled food they knew to be harmful.

If unapproved ingredients or additives are found in 65 types of food commonly consumed – including rice, soy sauce and flour – manufacturers can be fined up to £6,500 and have their production certification revoked, the report says.