Talk:2007 Chinese export recalls

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Mattel Apology[edit]

I notice the section about Mattel toys contains a paragraph that explains that the company issues an apology stating that it was not "China's fault" that its products were recalled. If so, I'm not sure that that section belongs in this article. There is an unstated subtext that all of the others these recalls were the fault of Chinese manufacturers, and this is not the case here.

Becase of this, I have deleted that section. 31.49.100.146 (talk) 17:19, 10 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Expansion[edit]

I think one of the best ways to expand this is to go ahead just tack the news as of today and try to make a timeline for the previous events that eventually triggered this full fledged event.

The following products have been involved:

Pet Food Tire Defects Lead paint in mattel products.--Hourick 02:16, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Current Tag[edit]

This is something that's going to be evolving over the next few months and therefore, I believe it's deserving of the "current" tag. --Hourick 14:28, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Uncalled for?[edit]

Frankly, I'm not yet convinced an "export recall crisis" exists. Do official statistics actually indicate a significant uptick in recalls of Chinese products this year over last, or are they just getting more media attention now because of the Chinese protein export scandal? It makes me think of the "shark attack" stories that show up now and then in the summer, despite no uptick in shark attacks. --Soultaco 22:09, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To my knowledge, no one really kept track of this before, but the past recalls have mentioned china and other countries, but rarely do I recall (in my memory) that this many recalls have been done in a single year, particularly one in which one country seemed to have a good portion of the recalls. Now if another wikipedian happens to be able to come up with some solid documentations, then a comparison can be made. --Hourick 22:22, 14 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
one country seemed to have a good portion"...That's because most products in the markets are from that country. So if any of those products have a problem, there is a good chance the problematic products are from China. This is simple stats.Sweeper77 07:58, 5 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

How About Commercials?[edit]

But what about commercials about Mattel? I am still seeing some even though it is recalling. --  PNiddy  Go!  03:43, 3 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I believe those are probably ones that are "Safe", but you would think they would stop temporarily until some time elapsed.--Hourick 04:23, 3 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Western Bias Towards China is Obvious[edit]

Are there any convincing stats that show products from China are unsafer than products from other sources? For example, OFF COURSE most problematic toys will be from China, since almost every toy in the market is Chinese made. Can we say, if all those toys were made in Mexico, India, or by Americans themselves, any such kind of problems would never happen (en, Ford trucks, E-Coli, Non-stick pans, thank god they were not made in China)? For food safety, there are also plenty of incidences such as those with beef and spinach which has nothing to do with China. The bottom line is, considering the high percentage of Chinese products in the Western markets, it is really not a surprise that most cases of problems will fall into the "Chinese territory". It is just statistically hard to miss. However, any educated person (I assume most people in, for example, North America, are educated) should think whether it's a significant stat before claiming "Chinese products are less safe". And remember (especially for those dumb CNN hosts who continue referring China as a "communist country"), China today is pretty much as free as US economically, and you are doing business with individual Chinese companies instead of Chinese central government. Just like American companies some of those Chinese companies are good, some of them are bad, and some are illegal. It's the Importing company's responsibility to make sure your Chinese partners are reliable and legally operated. Finally, for the gluten thing, obviously there was no laws in China to regulate the use of melamine, and knowing that, shouldn't it be the US importing company's responsibility to take the necessary test measures before putting them on US market? Sweeper77 07:54, 5 September 2007 (UTC

The fact of the matter is that Chinese products ARE generally inferior. Unfortunately, due to the western capitalist society, we import these products because they are cheap. Example: the problem of lead in paint has been well known and prohibited in the US and EU for many years. It may even be prohibited in China, but the state control does not work very well.
That's not the "fact"! The fact is that Western companies wanted those goods to be cheaply made. Most Chinese exports are consumer goods. They are not high tech stuffs. Chinese factories can make high end products if Western companies want. Then you come back and blame China. That's ridiculous.68.63.161.219 19:20, 1 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A quote from the Timeline of the 2007 pet food recalls article:
Zheng Xiaoyu, the head of the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration from its founding in 1998 until 2005 receives the death sentece for corruption. Zheng was convicted of taking bribes worth $844,000 – significantly less than the bribes taken by officials given lesser penalties in China.[1] Dozens of Chinese died due to the approval of untested medicines and falsely-labeled food during Zheng's tenure.[2]
Only when the consumers become more discerning will the tendency to buy Chinese products decrease, and then, hopefully, the Chinese will clean up their act to become competetive again!
Bias? Certainly. Unfounded bias? Certainly not! TinyMark 16:25, 27 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
That's not an educated response. Show me valid stats that prove Chinese goods are less safe. As I said, the large number of incidence may just because the total number of Chinese goods is huge.

References

  1. ^ Zhong, Wu (June 6, 2007). "Killing a big chicken to scare the monkeys". Asia Times. Retrieved 2007-06-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Magnier, Mark (May 30, 2007). "China's food and drug crackdown". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-06-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Suggested page move[edit]

I think that this article contains some useful information and that it is being steadily improved. However, I think the current title "2007 Chinese export recall crisis" is a bad title. The article does not seem to show that official in either the USA, China, or elsewhere are calling this a "crisis". I think a more straight-forward name would be "2007 Chinese export recalls". The recalls are factual, so this title should not be problematic. If no one objects, I will move the page in a couple of days. Johntex\talk 04:07, 9 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As the person who started this article, I have to agree with moving the article. I was a bit sensationalist when I formed the title, and in the grand scheme of things, this really isn't a "crisis," but still a notable event. Evilfishytank 00:58, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

OK, thanks. Since there do not seem to be any objections, I am moving the article. Johntex\talk 18:34, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Removed "notability" template[edit]

I have removed the "notability" template from this article. Chinese exports are certainly an important part of the world economy, and large recalls are also significant. The article now sports multiple referencing showing why this topic is notable. The change in article name (above) helps to address any lingering confusion about the scope of the article. Furthermore, the person who placed the tag does not seem to have made any claims here about why the tag is needed or valid. Therefore, I have removed the tag. Johntex\talk 18:44, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  • I placed the tag there, the reason being that I never saw any evidence that Chinese recalls were either (1) disproportionately common relative to the quantity of Chinese imports, or (2) unusually high this year relative to previous years. This seemed yet more questionable when the article had "crisis" in the title. However, the article's significance would still be more clear if we had statistics showing that these recalls really were anomalous. I was unable to find any. --Soultaco 17:06, 13 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
    • Thanks for your explanation. I agree it would be a wonderful addition to the article if we could find comparison between this year's Chinese product recalls and that of any other country, or those from any other year. I am not sure if anyone would track that information, so it may be impossible, but it would be great if we could get it. Hopefully the change in title does help address your concern. As it is now, the title of the article merely reports that there were recalls. It does not try to say they were a "crisis" or "typical" or "minor" or any other characterization. Johntex\talk 17:49, 17 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Japan Section[edit]

This section is abysmal. I'm not sure what the writer is trying to say. Obviously the writer is a South-East Asian with particularly bad English ability. And I thought the German native speakers were bad! TinyMark 16:13, 27 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I have cut the Japan section from the article until it is cleaned up and comprehensible in English. I would do it myself, but, as I said, I don't undertsand what the author is trying to say. It also needs more information - directing references to Japanese wesites is insufficient. Here is the cut section:

Japan[edit]

In Hokkaidō, lead has found in Nabe which is Japanese cooking pot from china, and recalled.

Many Japanese eat eel as Kabayaki in summer but this year most of them avoided Chinese one because it has found Malachite green in it. On this matter, Asahi Shimbun's Aera (magazine) and People's Daily claims that Japanese people is wrong because they told about Antibiotic Chinese people but now they denounce Chinese.[1] and also insists that chinese products are safer than other developed country's products.[2] —Preceding unsigned comment added by TinyMark (talkcontribs) 06:07, 5 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

New Toy Scare[edit]

This might be worth including:

http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/07/news/international/toys_drug.ap/index.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.95.1.181 (talk) 14:38, 8 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]