Apparently the United States has struck a deal with the Chinese product safety agency, in which China assures that they will stop the use of lead paint in toys:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In a cooperative effort to ensure the safety of children�s toys, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced an agreement with its product safety counterparts in the Chinese government aimed at stopping the use of lead paint in the manufacture of toys and addressing other product safety issues. At a “Consumer Product Safety Summit” held today in Washington, D.C., CPSC made known that China�s General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) has agreed to take immediately action to eliminate the use of lead paint on Chinese manufactured toys exported to the United States. Lead paint on toys sold in the U.S. has been banned since 1978.

In addition to the lead paint agreement, the two agencies announced work plans for cooperation in four product categories: Toys, Fireworks, Cigarette Lighters, and Electrical Products. The Work Plans provide a roadmap for bilateral efforts to improve the safety of these products, which represent some of the most frequent hazards under CPSC’s regulatory jurisdiction.

CPSC Acting Chairman Nancy Nord stated that the Work Plans show �significant forward progress� in the agency�s efforts to bring Chinese-made consumer products into line with U.S. safety rules.

Color me unimpressed. Maybe I can be accused of being too cynical, but I’m not about to feel safe buying Chinese products just because a communist country that has shown previous complete disregard for safety standards says it’s all better now. While things certainly do need to improve on their end, I think it would be much more prudent to step up vigilance and safety testing on ours by the importers that choose to do business with China. But that’s just me.

Bookmark to: