Order Code RS22713
August 28, 2007
Health and Safety Concerns Over U.S. Imports
of Chinese Products: An Overview
Wayne M. Morrison
Specialist in International Trade and Finance
Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
Summary
China is the second largest source of U.S. imports, a major supplier of consumer
products (such as toys), and an increasingly important supplier of various food products.
Reports of unsafe seafood, pet food, toys, tires, and other products imported from China
over the past year have raised concern in the United States over the health, safety, and
quality of imported Chinese products. This report provides an overview of this issue and
implications for U.S.-China trade relations and will be updated as events warrant. (For
an overview of issues concerning U.S. food imports from China, see CRS Report
RL34080, Food and Agricultural Imports from China, by Geoffrey S. Becker).
China is a large and growing source of U.S. imports. In 2006, U.S. imports from
China totaled $288 billion, accounting for 15.5% of total U.S. imports. Over the past
year, numerous recalls and warnings have been issued by U.S. firms over various products
imported from China, due to health and safety concerns. This has lead many U.S.
policymakers to question the adequacy of China’s regulatory environment in ensuring that
its exports to the United States meet U.S. standards for health, safety, and quality; as well
as the ability of U.S. government regulators, importers, and retailers to identify and take
action against unsafe imports (from all countries) before they enter the U.S. market.
Warnings, Recalls, and Detentions
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2007 issued warnings and
announced voluntary recalls on certain pet foods (or products such as rice protein
concentrate and wheat gluten used to manufacture pet food and animal feed) from China
believed to have caused the sickness and deaths of numerous pets in the United States.
In May 2007, the FDA issued warnings on certain toothpaste products (some of which
were found to be counterfeit) found to originate in China that contained poisonous
chemicals. In June 2007, the FDA announced import controls on all farm-raised catfish,
basa, shrimp, dace (related to carp), and eel from China after antimicrobial agents, which
are not approved in the United States for use in farm-raised aquatic animals, were found.
Such shipments will be detained until they are proven to be free of contaminants.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in June 2007
was informed by Foreign Tire Sales Inc., an importer of foreign tires, that it suspected that
up to 450,000 tires (later reduced to 255,000 tires) made in China may have a major safety
defect (i.e., missing or insufficient gum strip inside the tire). The company was ordered
by the NHTSA to issue a recall. The Chinese government and the manufacturer have
maintained that the tires in question meet or exceed U.S. standards.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued alerts and
announced voluntary recalls by U.S. companies on numerous products made in China,
most of which have involved toys suspected of containing high levels of lead. Examples
of CPSC alerts on toys since March 2007 include (lead related unless otherwise noted):1
! (March) 108,600 units of children’s necklaces and 128,700 toy sets;
! (April) 396,000 metal key chains and 4 million children’s bracelets;
! (May) 103,000 units of children’s metal jewelry and 4,500 toy drums;

! (June) 1.5 million toy train units and 20,000 units of children’s jewelry;

! (July) 1 million “Easy-Bake Ovens” (burn danger) and 20,000 units of
children’s jewelry; and
! (August) 9.3 million play sets (loose magnets), 1.2 million toy products,
250,000 cartoon character address books and journals, 66,000 spinning
tops, 4,700 pails, and 7,900 children’s charm bracelets.
U.S. Imports of Products of Concern from China
Table 1 lists products imported from China in 2006 that have been the subject of
recent U.S. health and safety concerns, such as toys, fish, tires, animal foods, and
toothpaste. It indicates that in 2006, China was a major source of imports for many of
these products. For example, China was the dominant supplier of imported dolls, toys,
and games; these totaled $14.6 billion and accounted for 86% of total U.S. imports of
these products. China was the largest foreign supplier of fresh, chilled, or frozen fish and
other marine products at nearly $1.7 billion, or 19.8% of total imports of this category.
It was the largest foreign supplier of tires at $1.9 billion, or 22.0% of total U.S. imports.
China was the 2nd largest foreign supplier of animal food products at $135 million, or
23.8% of total. China was the 6th largest supplier of U.S. toothpaste at $3.3 million, or
3.5% of total. Finally, China was the 16th largest source of U.S. imports pharmaceuticals
and medicines (at $698 million) or 1.1% of total imports.2
1 Several other Chinese-made products have been recalled as well. See the CPSC website on
company recalls at [http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html]. In addition, some retailers
have announced that they have halted sales of certain Chinese products from their shelves,
including Toys R Us (baby bibs) and Wal-Mart (dog treats), due to health and safety concerns.
2 Imported Chinese-made pharmaceutical products have not been subject of any major federal
(continued...)

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Table 1. U.S. Imports of Selected Products from China: 2006
Imports
China’s Rank
Imports
From China
as a Source of
Product Description
From China
As a % of
Imported
($ millions)
Total U.S.
Product
Imports (%)
Dolls, toys, and games
14,593
1
86.0
Fish and other marine products (fresh,
1,695
1
19.8
chilled, or frozen, excluding canned)
Tires
1,896
1
22.0
Animal foods
135
2
23.8
Toothpaste
3.3
6
3.5
Pharmaceuticals & medicines
698
16
1.1
Source: USITC DataWeb using NAIC classification, five-digit level.
China’s Poor Regulatory System
China is believed to have a rather weak health and safety regime for manufactured
goods and agricultural products. Problems include weak consumer protection laws and
poorly enforced regulations, lack of inspections and ineffective penalties for code
violators, underfunded and understaffed regulatory agencies and poor interagency
cooperation, the proliferation of fake goods and ingredients, the existence of numerous
unlicensed producers, falsified export documents, extensive pollution,3 intense
competition that often induces firms to cut corners, the relative absence of consumer
protection advocacy groups, failure by Chinese companies to effectively monitor the
quality of their suppliers’ products, restrictions on the media,4 and extensive government
corruption and lack of accountability, especially at the local government level.
Chinese officials contend that most Chinese-made products are safe and note that
U.S. recalls for health and safety reasons have involved a number of countries (as well as
U.S. products). They also argue that some of the blame for recalled products belongs to
U.S. importers. They further counter that some imported U.S. products (such as soybeans,
meats, and fruit) have failed to meet Chinese standards. However, they have
acknowledged numerous product health and safety problems in China, as reflected in
reports that have appeared in China’s state-controlled media:
2 (...continued)
action to date. However, numerous press reports of the proliferation of fake and ineffective drugs
in China have raised concerns over China’s growing drug exports to the United States.
3 For example, many fish farmers in China are believed to feed various drugs to the fish to help
keep them alive in polluted waters. See “Farmed in China’s Foul Waters, Imported Fish Treated
with Drugs; Traditional Medicine, Banned Chemicals Both Used,” Washington Post, July 6,
2007, p. A1.
4 China’s media often reports on health and safety problems, but rarely criticizes the central
government for such problems.

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! In June 2004, the Chinese People’s Daily reported that fake baby formula
had killed 50 to 60 infants in China.
! In June 2006, the China Daily reported that 11 people had died from a
tainted injection used to treat gall bladders. The drug reportedly
contained a toxic chemical, which some reports stated was sold to the
Chinese pharmaceutical manufacturer without its knowledge, while other
reports claimed that the company used the chemical to cut costs.
! In August 2006, Xinhua News Agency reported that a defective antibiotic
drug killed seven people and sickened many others.
! In March 2007, the People’s Daily reported that in 2006 China
experienced a variety of food safety problems, such as steroid-tainted
pork, parasite-infested snails, turbots (fish) that contain excessive amount
of carcinogens, and ducks that were fed cancer-causing dye to make their
egg yolks red.
! In May 2007, the Xinhua News Agency reported that former director of
China’s State Food and Drug Administration had been sentenced to death
for taking bribes (equivalent to $850,000) in return for approving
untested and/or fake medicines; he was executed on July 10, 2007.
! In June 2007, the China Daily reported that a nationwide inspection of
the food production industry had found that a variety of dangerous
industrial raw materials had been used in the production of flour, candy,
pickles, biscuits, black fungus, melon seeds, bean curd, and seafood. As
a result, the government reportedly closed 180 food factories found to be
producing unsafe products and/or making fake commodities. It also
reported that in 2006, the government had conducted 10.4 million
inspections, uncovering problems in 360,000 food businesses and had
closed 152,000 unlicensed food businesses.
! In July 2007, the Xinhua News Agency reported that the government had
conducted an extensive survey of 7,200 different products from 6,362
enterprises, with an emphasis on food, everyday commodities, and
farming machinery and fertilizers. The survey found that 19.1% of
products made in China for domestic consumption in first half of 2007
were substandard.
! In August 2007, the China Daily stated that the government had
“blacklisted” and punished 429 Chinese export companies for violating
quality standards.
Although China has criticized the United States for its recent actions against unsafe
Chinese products,5 it has pledged to improve and strengthen food and drug safety
5 On July 14, 2007, Reuters reported that China had suspended some frozen chicken and pork
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supervision and standards, beef up inspections, require safety certificates before some
products can be sold, and to crack down on government corruption. For example:
! On May 29, 2007, the Xinhua News Agency reported that the Chinese
government had announced that it would, by the end of 2007, complete
regulations for setting up a national food recall system. It also pledged
that it would ban the sale of toys that fail to pass a national compulsory
safety certification.
! On July 4, 2007, the China Daily reported that the government had
finished making amendments to all food safety standards and had
established an emergency response mechanism among several ministries
to deal with major problems regarding food safety.
! On August 9, 2007, China Daily reported that the government had
announced the suspension of export licences for two Chinese toy
manufacturers involved in recent high profile U.S. toy recalls. It also
pledged to spend $1 billion by 2010 to improve drug and food safety.
! On August 15, 2007, a spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in
Washington, DC, reportedly said that China was prepared to require that
every food shipment be inspected for quality by the government
beginning on September 1, 2007, but rejected proposals made by some
U.S. policymakers that would require that all Chinese toy exports to the
United States obtain certification by independent safety laboratories, or
that U.S. government officials inspect toy factories in China.6
! On August 20, 2007, the Chinese government announced that it had
created a 19-member cabinet-level panel to oversee product quality and
food safety, headed by Vice-Premier Wu Yi.
On July 18, 2007, the White House announced that President Bush had issued an
executive order establishing an interagency working group on import safety to identify
actions and appropriate steps that can be pursued within existing resources, to promote
the safety of imported products. On August 2, 2007, the Secretary of Health and Human
Services (HHS), Mike Leavitt, announced that a delegation of HHS and FDA officials had
held a series of initial meetings with senior Chinese officials to advance discussions
towards achieving (by December 2007) agreements on the safety of food and feed, and
drugs and medical devices. In addition, China and the United States have made the health
and safety of imported products a major topic under the Strategic Economic Dialogue, and
both sides have pledged to boost cooperation and meet regularly on the issue.
5 (...continued)
products from the United States, citing various health concerns, and on August 21, 2007, the
South China Morning Post reported that China had rejected a shipment of U.S. pacemakers, due
to quality concerns. Some analysts contend these have been retaliatory moves by China.
6 New York Times, “China Plans Greater Scrutiny of Food Exports,” August 16, 2007.

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Economic Implications
Many Members of Congress have called for tighter scrutiny (such as increased
inspections and certification requirements) of imported Chinese products, and numerous
bills have recently been introduced to address health and safety concerns over imported
products.7 Many charge that the current U.S. health and safety regulatory regime lacks
the ability to effectively identify and halt unsafe products,8 and some have called for
beefing up federal agencies that monitor imports. Others have called for new rules that
would require U.S. companies that import from China to do more to ensure that such
products are safe and effective. Another proposal would ban certain imports from China
until they are proven to be safe. Still others contend the focus should be on pressing
China to do more to enforce its own laws and regulations and to boost cooperation and
assistance on health and safety issues. World Trade Organization rules allow countries
to impose restrictions on imports for health and safety reasons as long as they are based
on science, but forbid measures deemed to be discriminatory or protectionist in nature.
Concerns over the health, safety, and quality of Chinese products could have a
number of important economic implications. Both the United States and China have
accused each other of using health and safety concerns as an excuse to impose
protectionist measures and some observers contend that this issue could lead to growing
trade friction between the two sides.9 International concerns over the safety of Chinese
exports may diminish the attractiveness of China as a destination for foreign investment
in export-oriented manufacturing, as well as for foreign firms that contract with Chinese
firms to make and export products under their labels (such as toys). Efforts by China to
restore international confidence in the health and safety of its exports through increased
inspections, certification requirements, mandatory testing, etc., could have a significant
impact on the cost of doing business in China, which could slow the pace of Chinese
exports and hurt employment in the export sector. Moreover, international concerns over
the safety of Chinese products could prove to be a setback to the government’s efforts to
develop and promote internationally recognized Chinese brands, which it views as
important to the country’s future economic development. Thus, it is very likely the
Chinese government will take this issue very seriously. However, it is unclear how long
it will take for the central government to effectively address the numerous challenges it
faces (including government corruption and counterfeiting) to ensure that its exports
comply with the health and safety standards of its trading partners (such as the United
States) as well as to enforce its own health and safety laws and regulations for the sake
of its own population.
7 See CRS Report RS22664, U.S. Food and Agricultural Imports: Safeguards and Selected
Issues, by Geoffrey S. Becker.
8 For example, the New York Times reported on August 5, 2007, that inspections by the CPSC of
children’s toy jewelry found 20% of those sampled contained dangerous levels of lead, and the
Associated Press on August 8, 2007, reported that at least 1 million pounds of Chinese seafood
covered under the June 2007 FDA import alert had entered the U.S. market without being stopped
or inspected by the FDA.
9 For example, China has complained about a provision in a recently-passed bill in the House
(H.R. 3161), which would bar the use of funds to establish or implement any rule allowing
poultry imports from China. The United States has complained over China’s continued ban on
imported U.S. beef products and recently imposed restrictions on U.S. chicken and pork products.

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