Order Code RS22713
Updated January 24, 2008
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 a major source of U.S. imports 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 or so
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.
China is a large and rapidly growing source of U.S. imports. It is estimated that in
2007, China overtook Canada to became the largest source of U.S. imports (at $325
billion), accounting for 16.5% of total U.S. imports.1 Over the past year or so, 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 led 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
1 Estimate, based on actual data for January-September 2007.

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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.
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 in
2007. From January-December 2007, over four-fifths of CPSC recall notices involved
Chinese products. Over this period, roughly 17.6 million toy units were recalled because
of excessive lead levels. Recalls were also issued on 9.5 million Chinese-made toys
(because of the danger of loose magnets), 4.2 million “Aqua Dots” toys (because beads
contain a chemical that can turn toxic if ingested) and 1 million toy ovens (due to
potential finger entrapment and burn hazzards).2

U.S. Imports of Products of Concern from China3
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, seafood, 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 largest supplier of imported toys (86% of
total), seafood products (15%), and tires (22%); the 2nd largest foreign supplier of animal
food products (24%); the 6th largest supplier of toothpaste (4%); and the 12th largest
source of imported pharmaceuticals and organic chemicals (3%).4 The table also lists the
change in U.S. imports of these products during the first nine months of 2007 over the
previous period in 2006. During this time, toothpaste imports from China declined by
54%, while toy imports increased by 46%.
2 For a list of company recalls of Chinese products, see the CPSC website at
[http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html]. In addition, several U.S. retailers have
announced that they have halted sales of certain Chinese products, due to health and safety
concerns, which do not appear on the CPSC website.
3 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
4 Imported Chinese-made pharmaceutical products and organic chemicals have not been subject
to any major recalls to date. However, press reports of the proliferation of fake and ineffective
drugs (sold in China or exported from China) have raised concerns over the effectiveness and
safety of China’s growing pharmaceutical (and ingredients used to make to make such products)
exports to the United States. For example, China was the largest foreign supplier of U.S.
imported vitamins and their derivatives in 2006 ($241 million or 38.9% of total imports).

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Table 1. U.S. Imports of Selected Products from China:
2006 and Percent Change in Those Imports in 2007
Imports
Percent
China’s Rank
Imports
From China
Change in
as a Source of
Product Description
From China
As a % of
Imports in
Imported
($ millions)
Total U.S.
2007 over
Product
Imports (%)
2006 (%)*
Dolls, toys, and
games
14,593
1
86.0
45.7
Fish and other
seafood products
1,959.6
1
14.6
10.3
Tires
1,896
1
22.0
27.6
Animal foods
137
2
23.7
20.2
Toothpaste
3.3
6
3.5
-53.8
Organic chemicals
and pharmaceutical
products 2,588
12
3.0
21.4
Total imports from
China
287,773
2
15.5
13.5
Source: USITC DataWeb using various classifications systems and digit levels.
*For the time period January-September 2007 over the same period in 2006.
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,5 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,6 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 or by U.S. designers. They further contend that some U.S. products
5 For example, many fish farmers in China reportedly feed various drugs to the fish to help keep
them alive in polluted waters.
6 China’s media often reports on health and safety problems, but rarely criticizes the central
government for such problems.

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imported into China have failed to meet Chinese standards.7 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. For example, 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. In August 2006, Xinhua News Agency reported that
a defective antibiotic drug killed seven people and sickened many others.
China has announced a number of initiatives to improve and strengthen food and drug
safety supervision and standards, increase inspections, require safety certificates before
some products can be sold, and to crack down on government corruption:
! 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). On the same
day, 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 would ban the sale of toys that
failed to pass a national compulsory safety certification.
! On June 27, 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.
! 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
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, said that China would require that every food shipment
be inspected for quality by the government by September 1, 2007.
7 Since June 2007, China has seized, rejected, or complained about U.S. shipments of orange pulp
dried apricots, frozen chicken, pork products, pacemakers, soybeans, frozen potato slices, and
sardines. In September 2007, China reportedly ordered increased inspections of imported U.S.
products. Some analysts contend that these actions are retaliation for U.S. recalls of Chinese
products.

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! 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) and would start a four-
month nationwide campaign to improve the quality of goods and food.
! On December 5, 2007, the government stated that during the first 10
months of the year, it had shut down 47,800 food factories without
operating licenses.
! On January 15, 2008, China announced it had inspected over 3,000
export-oriented toy manufacturers and had revoked licences for 600 firms
that failed to meet quality standards.
The United States and China reached a number of agreements in 2007 to address
health and safety concerns:
! On September 11, 2007, the CPSC and its Chinese counterpart, the
General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and
Quarantine (AQSIQ), signed a Joint Statement on enhancing consumer
product safety. China pledged to implement a comprehensive plan to
intensify efforts (such as increased inspections, efforts to educate Chinese
manufacturers, bilateral technical personal exchanges and training, regular
meetings to exchange information with U.S. officials, and the
development of a product tracking system) to prevent exports of unsafe
products to the United States, especially in regard to lead paint and toys.
! On September 12, 2007, the NHTSA signed a Memorandum of
Cooperation with its Chinese counterpart on enhanced cooperation and
communication on vehicles and automotive equipment safety.
! On December 11, 2007, the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS)
announced that it had signed two Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) with
its Chinese counterparts; the first covering specific food and feed items
that have been of concern to the United States, and the second covering
drugs and medical devices. Both MOAs would would require Chinese
firms that export such products to the United States to register with the
Chinese government and to obtain certification before they can export.
Such firms would also be subject to annual inspections to ensure they
meet U.S. standards. The MOAs also establish mechanisms for greater
information sharing, increase access of production facilities by U.S.
officials, and creates working group in order to boost cooperation.
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. The primary bills addressing product safety that Congress is likely to consider
are H.R. 4040 (Rush), which passed the House on December 19, 2007, and S. 2045 (Pryor)
in the Senate. Although not identical, both bills would boost the CPSC’s funding and

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expand its authority, ban the sale of children’s products that contain more than trace levels
of lead, and require third-party inspections and mandatory tracking labels for children’s
products.8
Many charge that the current U.S. health and safety regulatory regime lacks the
ability to effectively identify and halt unsafe products, and some have called for
strengthening 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. 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 (such as cars), 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 (especially government corruption and counterfeiting) to ensure that its exports
comply with the health and safety standards of the United States and other trading
partners. Additionally, a sharp decrease in purchases by U.S. consumers of Chinese
products could negatively impact U.S. firms that import and/or sell such products and may
raise prices of some commodities as firms attempt to rectify various safety problems.
8 For a listing of bills on food safety, see CRS Report RL34152, Food Safety: Selected Issues
and Bills in the 110th Congress, by Geoffrey S. Becker.

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