TOY SAFETY IMPROVES, BUT OFFICIALS WARY OF IMPOSED CHANGE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BEIJING 001492 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS EAP/PD FOR NIDA EMMONS STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION FOR NHTSA ABRAHAM/KRATZKE STATE PASS CONSUMER PRODUCTS SAFETY COMMISSION RICH O'BRIEN/INTL PROGRAMS STATE PASS USTR CHINA OFFICE/TIM WINELAND STATE PASS OMB/INT'L AFFAIRS STATE PASS HOMELAND SECURITY COUNCIL STATE PASS IMPORT SAFETY WORKING GROUP HHS FOR OGHA/STEIGER AND PASS TO FDA/LUMPKIN USDOC FOR 4420 MAC/OCEA/ACINO USDOC FOR 6300 MAS/HIJIKATA E.O. 12958: n/a TAGS: ECON ETRD BEXP CH SUBJECT: TOY SAFETY IMPROVES, BUT OFFICIALS WARY OF IMPOSED CHANGE REFS: A. 07 Beijing 5899 ¶B. Beijing 359 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Eight months after the spate of massive toy recalls in the United States, Chinese toy exporters are paying more attention to the safety of their products and compliance with U.S. toy safety standards. Conversations with industry representatives, standards experts, and other observers reveal that AQSIQ- and industry-sponsored training in major export centers on toy safety and monitoring supply chains has reached large audiences and raised awareness of safety issues. Regulators and Chinese firms overall are doing a better job at ensuring toy safety. However, the primary incentive for compliance with U.S. standards remains the fear of lost revenue by failing export certification tests, rather than a belief that U.S. standards actually make toys safer. Rising costs of labor and raw materials, an appreciating Renminbi, as well as importer requirements for third party testing are pushing toy manufacturers closer to the edge of profitability. Toy manufacturers are therefore wary of new U.S. legislation and toy industry initiatives that would create stricter requirements and increase costs. Some manufacturers have already moved to Vietnam and Cambodia to maintain their profit margins. A sustainable culture of quality at toy factories which could provide a basis for safer exports in the long-term is a work in progress, hindered by poor industry organization and a preference for the status-quo. END SUMMARY. AWARENESS IS UP, BUT PRE- AND POST-MARKET TESTING STILL NEEDED -------------- ¶2. (U) Awareness of U.S. toy safety requirements among manufacturers has increased significantly since last summer's spate of U.S. toy recalls, according to the China Toy Association (CTA) Executive Vice President and Secretary General Liang Mei. AQSIQ toy safety campaigns and crackdowns in Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 as well as CTA's own training and education programs have been effective at spreading the message about the importance of toy safety and standards compliance. Of about 8,000 toy manufacturers in China, some 5,000 export their toys overseas, and about 38% of the total toy export value is destined for the United States each year. All of those firms, Liang said, have strengthened their internal quality compliance systems. ¶3. (U) AQSIQ measures to increase factory inspections and port sampling are the most sustainable way to verify the pre-market safety of toy exports, Liang continued. However, because pre-market sampling and testing cannot guarantee the 100% safety of all exported toys, post-market tools like the U.S. recall system will continue to play a major role in toy safety. When a recall happens in the United States, Liang said that AQSIQ suspends the manufacturer's exports for three to six months, which can drive the exporter to bankruptcy but ensures that the sub-standard products will not reach the market. The threat of business losses is therefore the biggest incentive for companies to make safe products and adhere to importer country standards. Commenting on proposed U.S. legislation and U.S. toy industry initiatives, Liang emphasized that CTA and the Chinese toy industry would prefer a government-to-government consensus approach on a simplified toy safety system, which would remove redundancies and hold down costs. EU OFFICIALS SEE SOME PROGRESS -------------- ¶4. (U) European observers have noted improvements in the toy safety situation in China. Beijing-based EU-China Trade Project in early April hosted EU officials on a six-city visit to toy factories in Guangdong and other provinces, where they noted that toy companies BEIJING 00001492 002 OF 003 overall are doing a better job at ensuring product safety. The delegation's forthcoming report will describe how Chinese toy companies are more familiar with U.S. safety standards than with those of the EU, and how some toy firms faced with rising costs are relocating their factories to Southeast Asian nations such as Cambodia and Vietnam. Key challenges for toy companies in China are the interpretation and understanding of standards' technical terms, as well as the difficulty of managing a multitude of importer country standards. Manufacturers repeatedly suggested to the delegation that "harmonized" international standards would simplify the task of standards compliance. The EU-China Trade Project senior advisor believes a program to support harmonized global toy safety standards could make a positive difference in improving long-term toy safety. AQSIQ, CHINESE FIRMS WARY OF STRICTER U.S. MEASURES -------------- ¶5. (U) The Toy Industry Association (TIA) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) presented the draft Toy Safety Coordination Initiative (TSCI) plan April 3 in Beijing to Chinese officials, the China Toy Association, and a small group of concerned Chinese manufacturers. The TSCI plan, which responds to new requirements of pending Congressional legislation, calls for factory audits, a factory rating system, traceability, and testing by accredited third parties. Concerned about the new TSCI plan, an AQSIQ inspection officer at the event bluntly questioned its necessity. Toy exports are already adequately tested, she noted, and AQSIQ is the most credible party to enforce product safety and raise awareness within the toy industry. New requirements will make Chinese firms feel like victims of trade protectionism, she continued, specifically targeted by new U.S. legislation, while U.S. importer wh overlooked toy safety for profit are let of the hook. Stricter inspections on the import and distribution side, she added, could help correct this "unfair treatment." ¶6. (U) Atendees acknowledged that third party testing ha already become a reality, but they opposed other elements of TSCI because they fear they will increase the costs of doing business. They called auditing and product sampling redundant processes, since AQSIQ already audits and samples, and expressed fear that mandatory audits could expose trade secrets. Obscuring the point of the TSCI proposal, attendees also said that U.S. consumers are more price-driven than safety-driven and will not support price increases to pay for the new plan. Moreover, since the safety of toy exports can never be 100% guaranteed, they argued, the TSCI's additional measures are not justifiable. These comments underscore a fear about the costs, redundancies, and invasiveness of the TSCI proposal. More generally, these comments also reveal a persistent perception among AQSIQ officials and manufacturers that the United States, whether through public policy or industry actions, still treats toy safety like a trade issue -- an idea initially touted by Chinese leaders during the U.S. recall zenith in 2007 (Ref. A). CTA, AQSIQ MISSING THE TECHNOLOGY TRAIN -------------- ¶7. (U) While the China Toy Association and AQSIQ have reached out to toy companies through seminars and training sessions in major export centers, their ability to create a sustainable impact on toy safety is limited by organizational weaknesses and a lack of innovation. CTA is a small, politically weak organization established under the auspices of China's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) and it supports all aspects of the toy trade. Although toy safety figures prominently in their mission statement, they have limited actionable toy safety resources BEIJING 00001492 003 OF 003 available for their membership. Neither CTA nor AQSIQ utilize email or other electronic systems to disseminate information on the latest toy standard changes to toy manufacturers, nor do they have any plans to create such a system. Firms must instead sign up for fee-based services from international standards organizations, such as ASTM. While U.S. importers can and do relay information on standards to Chinese manufacturers, the lack of a timely, industry-wide notification mechanism could leave some smaller to medium-sized manufacturers unaware of standards developments, particularly at firms that do not have dedicated compliance officers. ¶8. (SBU) Econoff has suggested to AQSIQ and CTA that they incorporate email technology into their communications, similar to what CPSC uses to announce product recalls, so Chinese manufacturers can learn about and react more quickly to changes in global standards or other developments. However, such technology would require a commitment from regulators for greater transparency and responsiveness. Having spent eight months defending the "Made in China" brand, AQSIQ and other regulators like MOFCOM are unlikely to make substantial, voluntary changes outside the scope of existing toy safety directives unless instructed to do so by a higher authority like the State Council. Filling this innovation void, United States standards and industry organizations have played a significant role in encouraging their Chinese counterparts to become better organized and more engaged with China's toy industry. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The absence of Chinese counterproposals to the TSCI shows that the Chinese toy industry is not only confident about the current export quality control regime, but they are also unwilling to recommend fundamental policy changes to a toy safety system they view as unflawed. Industry and regulators support education and training initiatives as keys to quality improvement, while regulators rely on broad State Council directives and "campaigns" to empower provincial quality control officials to enforce the law. This approach is effective at raising awareness and increasing compliance, but its sustainability without a deeper, more innovative commitment to production quality is questionable. Standards experts and industry observers agree that quality must be viewed as a process, not a one-time goal (Ref. B). ¶10. (SBU) Under the current inspection system, AQSIQ and manufacturers have a cozy relationship: manufacturers have invested their time and money in the existing AQSIQ system and have cultivated useful connections with regulatory officials, while AQSIQ has a powerful role as export gateway and earns fees from the provision of testing service to manufacturers. Comprehensive U.S. toy saety legislation that imposes change on these entrenched interests will likely be seen as a challenge to AQSIQ's authority, and it may also aggravate AQSIQ's sense of humiliation over last summer's recalls. Even more, Chinese regulators could view U.S. legislation as circumventing traditional government-to-government channels, which they prefer over industry-developed initiatives that they do not control. PICCUTA