China plans safety talks with US

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China has said it will send delegations to the US to discuss safety concerns, after a spate of recalls of food and other products.

US toymaker Mattel this week recalled more than 18 million toys after finding that the paint used may contain lead.

This prompted a senior US senator to call for all toys being imported into the country from China to be inspected.

In what some say is retaliation, China has now banned imports of pork from several US suppliers.

Beijing says that the meat may contain a banned growth hormone, ractopamine, which is certified for use in the US, but is banned in China.

The move is the latest in what is proving to be a particularly difficult phase in trade relations between the two countries.

Frustration

On Wednesday, Democrat senator Dick Durbin accused China of having "lax safety standards" and said that toy firms should voluntarily allow third-party inspectors to check goods.

RECALLED PRODUCTS Sarge die-cast car11 Doggie Daycare sets44 Polly Pocket toys4 Batman Magna toys2 Barbie and Tanner sets1 One Piece toy <a class="" href="/1/hi/business/6946752.stm">Full list of recalled products</a> <a class="" href="/1/hi/business/6948417.stm">Are recalls ever well-timed? </a>

However Zhao Baoqing, of China's embassy in Washington said that such checks should be a "matter of commercial agreement between the importer and the exporter".

"We do not wish to make third-party testing compulsory as this would be disadvantageous to the importer, the brand-holder and the exporter," he said.

The top-level delegations from China will hold talks later this month, and again in September, with the Food and Drug Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Mr Zhao called for co-operation and showed frustration at the way the US was handling the widening problem, accusing Washington of going public with its complaints rather than first trying to resolve issues through diplomatic talks.

MATTEL RECALL: WHAT TO DO Concerned parents in the UK are being advised to take the recalled items away from their childrenThey should then contact Mattel's helpline on 01628 500 303, e-mail HelplineUK@mattel.com or visit the company's UK website at www.service.mattel.com/ukCustomers elsewhere can obtain details of who to contact at http://www.mattel.com/safety.

The latest Mattel recall includes Chinese-made Sarge die-cast toys from the Pixar film Cars.

The toymaker said that some toys, including Polly Pocket, Batman Magna, Doggie Daycare and One Piece playsets, contained small magnets that could come loose.

The recall came just days after it had urged parents to return 1.5 million China-made items from its Fisher Price range.

Such events have raised fears in Beijing that the "Made in China" label is being seriously damaged.

Chinese officials have announced a series of measures to try to tackle the problems, but analysts say that China's economy has grown so rapidly over the past two decades that addressing the issue will take a long time.