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R 050827Z OCT 07
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6509
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 001101 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EIND TBIO ECON PGOV CH
SUBJECT: CHINA HOSTS FOOD AND SAFETY TOUR FOR FOREIGN DIPLOMATS 
 
REF: BEIJING 6347 
 
(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. Not for release outside U.S. government channels. Not 
for internet publication. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: A tour of inspection facilities and export 
production sites hosted by the Chinese government offered an 
opportunity for dialogue with inspection officials that improved 
understanding of China's food safety and product quality system. 
Despite obvious staging, it also revealed some of the system's 
weaknesses. With press participation throughout, the tour was aimed 
at a larger audience than just the diplomatic community. End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, 
Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) Vice Minister Wei Chuangzhong 
hosted diplomats from sixteen embassies in Beijing on a four-day 
tour of local product safety inspection facilities.  The tour also 
included site visits to agricultural and manufacturing facilities in 
Guangdong Province that produce exports to the United States and 
other foreign markets.  U.S. Embassy Beijing FAS Minister Counselor 
William Westman, Embassy Econoff and Congenoff joined the tour and 
held a private bilateral meeting with Chinese officials on food 
safety issues (reftel). 
 
More Access, Same Message 
------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) VIP treatment and unfettered access to national-level AQSIQ 
and local-level China Inspection and Quarantine (CIQ) officials 
throughout the September 24-27 trip helped improve foreign 
diplomats' understanding of China's product quality inspection 
system. (Septel will provide further details on the system's 
bureaucracy and procedures.) Local officials were eager to showcase 
progress to multiple audiences - not only foreign diplomats in the 
delegation, but also Vice Minister Wei and Chinese local and 
national media who accompanied the delegation for each site visit 
and meeting. According to Vice Minister Wei and other officials, the 
inspection tour for diplomats will become a regular activity.  He 
noted that AQSIQ had offered a similar tour for journalists in late 
August. 
 
¶4. (SBU) At the start of the visit Vice Minister Wei reiterated 
well-rehearsed talking points on what AQSIQ perceives to be the 
causes of the recent food and product safety incidents: illegal 
activities by some enterprises, design flaws, standards, and the 
media. Wei noted that some enterprises engaged in illegal activities 
had been shut down, including the two firms that produced melamine 
involved in recent pet food recalls.  He complained about 
differences across international markets in standards for 
lead-content in toys, ractopamine in pork, and flouoroquinolone 
antimicrobials in fish. Wei pointed out that design flaws are the 
responsibility of the manufacturer and argued that the media has 
exaggerated the safety threat. In addition, he emphasized 
cooperative measures China has taken to resolve these issues, 
including the Consumer Product Safety Summit with the U.S. Consumer 
Product Safety Commission in September and bilateral negotiations 
with USDA. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Guangdong Province Deputy Secretary General Liu Youjun 
repeated Weis concerns about the negative impact of "media hype" and 
faulty product designs in one of the final sessions of the tour.  He 
called on diplomats and others to help repair Guangdong's reputation 
for producing quality products. Liu also noted Japanese government 
statistics that showed China's 2006 food exports to Japan had fewer 
quality problems than U.S. food exports to Japan during the same 
period. 
 
Yantian Port - Inspections and Evasion 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) During a tour of Yantian Port in Shenzhen, diplomats saw 
how import and export inspections are conducted for food, 
agricultural and manufactured products. The modern port facilities 
include two inspection platforms with over 100 CIQ employees.  CIQ 
officials can use a video surveillance system to visually monitor 
import/export activities at the port in real time from other 
Shenzhen CIQ locations.  (Note: They also receive live video feeds 
from other port and border-crossing facilities, livestock holding 
areas, and inspection sites throughout the local jurisdiction. End 
note.)  A Shenzhen CIQ Deputy Director General explained that local 
CIQ offices have their own internal auditors. The official pointed 
out that two inspectors must sign off on all inspection reports as a 
counter-corruption measure. However, he noted that some companies 
 
GUANGZHOU 00001101  002 OF 003 
 
 
evade the export quality control system by packing their products in 
boxes labeled as other goods with fraudulent manifests. 
 
¶7. (SBU) At the time of the port tour, inspectors were examining 
import shipments of frozen poultry, cut lumber, and hardwood veneer 
from the United States as well as flower bulbs from the EU and 
hydraulic oil from Taiwan.  They checked the shipments for 
discrepancies with shipping manifests and took samples for lab 
analysis at local CIQ laboratories. Foreign diplomats expressed 
concern that frozen U.S. poultry was allowed to sit out on the open 
air inspection platform for more than a few minutes for the purpose 
of the inspection demonstration. In addition to import products, CIQ 
officials were also inspecting Chinese export products such as 
canned water chestnuts, Christmas lights, office chairs and sofas to 
ensure accurate shipping manifests and product labels before release 
from China. CIQ officials at the port and throughout the tour gave 
conflicting accounts of the percentage of food and manufactured 
products that are actually inspected upon import or export. Despite 
these discrepancies, it appears that food and medical products are 
inspected more closely and frequently than most other manufactured 
products. 
 
Testing Labs - An Expensive Investment 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Shenzhen and Guangdong CIQ Offices opened three of their 
product testing laboratories to the delegation and proudly displayed 
advanced equipment and facilities at each site. The three-year-old 
facilities at the Zhongshan District CIQ laboratory included three 
Level 2 clean rooms, featuring multiple sealed doors and independent 
ventilation systems. Local CIQ officials said that China continues 
to acquire more advanced technologies for product testing at CIQ 
labs. During the tour, they pointed out individual testing stations 
and quoted prices in excess of US$250,000 for certain machines. 
Nevertheless, one AQSIQ officials complained that high equipment 
costs were an obstacle to China further expanding its testing 
regime. He implied that China some parts of the testing system were 
unnecessary and had been implemented primarily due to pressure from 
foreign governments and the media. 
 
Toy Manufacturers Emphasize Variation in Standards 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶9. (SBU) During visits to two Chinese toy companies, Early Light 
Manufacturing and Jetta Company Limited, executives gave detailed 
reviews of their internal testing procedures and facilities.  Both 
firms manufacture toys for global brand-name clients that are 
exported to various markets around the world. Managers at Early 
Light explained that it is certified by CIQ to conduct its own 
testing. However, they noted that CIQ still visits the factory to 
conduct independent testing and gather samples. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Executives at both firms repeatedly emphasized 
difficulties caused by variation in safety standards.  They 
highlighted different U.S. and EU toy safety standards for 
acceptable lead-content levels and drop height testing requirements 
(to measure breakage of toys dropped on concrete to prevent injury 
to children). An executive at Early Light also explained how a 
change in the U.S. standard for lead content had led to the recent 
Mattel recalls.  He said that Early Light had become aware of a 
change in the U.S. standard in late July and immediately notified 
Mattel that some toys already on shelves did not meet the new 
standard.  According to the Early Light executive, Mattel was not 
initially aware of the standard change.  He said Mattel started 
sending employees to conduct frequent tests at Early Light's 
facilities after the recalls. 
 
Vegetable and Eel Farms - Lack of Understanding 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶11. (SBU) The tour also included visits to the Guangzhou Dongsheng 
Demonstration Farm, a processing center for the export of 
conventional and organic vegetables, as well as the Xulong Group, an 
eel farm and processing center for baked eel exports to Japan, Korea 
and the United States. Each site appeared clean with appropriate 
quality control procedures in place.  However, several diplomats in 
the delegation expressed concern at obvious staging of the 
demonstrations and an apparent lack of understanding by managers at 
the sites about how testing and production procedures are designed 
to avoid contamination. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Agriculture attaches from the EU and New Zealand noted 
that the Guangzhou demonstration farm had no permanent processing 
tables in vegetable sorting and packing areas, raising questions 
about procedures for limiting contamination.  In addition, managers 
 
GUANGZHOU 00001101  003 OF 003 
 
 
at the farm were unable to adequately describe procedures for 
maintaining separation of conventional and organic vegetables 
transshipped through the same facility. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Managers of the eel processing center proudly displayed 
sophisticated testing equipment and procedures, but seemed to lack 
understanding of how certain tests might be used to enhance product 
quality. Foreign agricultural attaches commented that although 
testing appeared to be thorough and professional, process design 
might need improvement to ensure that unnecessary and costly 
protocols are not implemented simply for the sake of appearances. 
 
Comment - For Public Consumption 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) The presence of journalists throughout the tour 
underscored the fact that it was a public relations effort aimed at 
a larger audience than just the diplomatic community.  In one of the 
closing sessions with cameras rolling, Vice Minister Wei urged the 
foreign diplomats to comment on the tour and make suggestions for 
China's next steps on product safety.  When one diplomat pointed out 
that the current Chinese inspection system might inadvertently 
overlook small-scale and unregistered producers, Wei gave an 
immediate and vigorous rebuttal. Comments from another diplomat that 
seemed to praise China's system without equivocation were quoted the 
following day in the China Daily newspaper. 
 
JACOBSEN