中國受污染食品及日用品出口引起的軒然大波尚未平息。《紐約時報》七月16日發表社論說，北京領導人或許以為，處決了國家食品藥品監督管理局原局長鄭筱萸，便足以使疑慮重重的國內外消費者相信，現在中國產品的安全性有了保障。但是他們估計錯了。
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鄭筱萸承認自己曾經受賄 |
因為中國需要的，是有效、清晰的規範管理系統。北京當局應當清楚了解，如果繼續出口受污染食品、玩具、牙膏等，中國的出口增長將受到損害。如果上述規範管理系統遲遲不建立，或者不能保證一定會建立，美國的監管人員為了保護美國消費者，只能把更多的中國產品拒之門外。
社論指中國的管理功能不彰是根深蒂固的問題。加上社會缺乏公共責任心，劣質的公司可以為所欲為，並成為貪官污吏的保護傘。後果就是河流遭到氨污染，牙膏添加工業溶劑，以及抗生素污染等。好在北京領導者終於首次認識到，需要制定更多、更完善的食品監察管理規章。
但是對每年進口價值3000億美元中國產品的美國來說，等待北京當局採取行動，問題就太大、太複雜、太緊迫了。所以像，沃爾馬(Wal-Mart)這類進口商，需要提供第一道防線，派遣檢查人員前往中國供應商的工廠，確保產品達到可以接受的標準。無疑美國政府必須督促這些進口商照辦。
不過該報記者馬丁(ANDREW MARTIN)和帕爾摩(GRIFF PALMER)日前的報導也指出，中國並不是唯一的污染食品來源。還有其他的國家也是。例如從印度進口的黑胡椒便帶有沙門氏菌。墨西哥的螃蟹肉太髒而不能食用。還有丹麥的糖果貼錯了標籤等等。
實際上美國聯邦食品及藥物管理局的一份分析資料顯示，去年聯邦檢查人員查出有問題的印度和墨西哥進口食品，比有問題的中國食品多。美國當局多次公布中國受污染海產品，包括上個月暫停進口五種中國養殖海產品。但是聯邦調查人員禁止進口加勒比海多米尼加共和國和丹麥產品的次數更多。
例如，去年多米尼加共和國的產品被查出有問題而禁止進口，共有817次，原因通常是含有已經禁用的殺蟲劑。而丹麥糖果產品被禁止入口，也多達520次。相比之下，去年中國海產品在美國口岸被禁止入口，一共有391次，遠少於上述兩國。
曾在聯邦食品及藥物管理局工作28年，2005年退休時擔任該局規章事務辦公室進口運作及政策主任的尼爾森( Carl R. Nielsen)說：「事實是，這完全不是單獨一個國家的問題。我們正在經歷著更大規模的全球化問題。」
就在上個月，聯邦食品及藥物管理局不僅對中國進口魚類發出了警告，也對墨西哥甜瓜、印度大米等食品發出了同類警告。墨西哥駐美大使館發言人表示，與該國對美國出口的大量食品相比，出問題的可以說微不足道。印度駐美大使館商務參贊聲稱，該國已經強化了食品安全法律，目前一些問題是許多小型食品生產商加工過程中偶然發生的。
從去年七月到今年六月，聯邦食品及藥物管理局截查了2,723艘裝載食品、藥物、化妝品、醫療器材、動物藥品、某些電子產品的中國船，2,620艘印度船，1,876艘墨西哥船， 887艘多米尼加共和國船。但是，中國出口到美國的貨品比後三個國家多。去年美國進口的中國貨品價值2,880億美元，墨西哥貨物價值1,980億美元，印度220億美元，多米尼加共和國53億美元。
Editorial
Killing the Regulator
Published: July 16, 2007 New York Times
The Chinese government’s extraordinary decision to execute its chief food and drug regulator for taking bribes and allowing the sale of tainted drugs is a perfect example of all that is wrong with China’s approach to regulation.
Beijing’s leaders — who disdain the idea of their own accountability — may think that killing the regulator is enough to reassure consumers at home and abroad that China is now ready to guarantee the safety of its products. But they’re wrong.
What China needs is an effective and transparent regulatory system and a clear understanding that its export boom will suffer if it continues to sell tainted food, toys and toothpaste. Until that happens — and there is no guarantee that it will — American regulators will have to do more to screen Chinese imports to protect American consumers.
China’s dysfunction has deep roots. The Communist Party leadership has muzzled consumer advocacy groups and the press. The government is also loath to do anything that might hinder the country’s breakneck economic growth. With no public accountability, shoddy companies are allowed to cut every possible corner in their pursuit of business, often under the protection of corrupt government officials.
The results include rivers laced with ammonia and toothpaste sweetened with an industrial solvent, as well as tainted antibiotics that have killed more than a dozen children and sickened hundreds. The good news is that for the first time China’s leaders are talking about the need for more and better regulation. And Washington and other governments can help with offers of technical advice and warnings about the cost of failing to take it.
But the scope of the problem is too big, too complex and too urgent for the United States — with $300 billion worth of Chinese imports a year — to wait for Beijing to act. American importers need to provide the first line of defense. Companies like Wal-Mart should send inspectors regularly to visit the factories of Chinese suppliers, to ensure that products are up to acceptable standards. Ultimately the American government will have to enforce these norms.
Unfortunately, the Bush administration has spent the last five-plus years emasculating the American regulatory system. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has seen its budgets repeatedly cut. The Food and Drug Administration has not received the resources it needs and today inspects only a minute share of all imported food.
It is hard to imagine anything good coming out of the China export scandals. But perhaps they will persuade Congress’s new Democratic leaders that America also needs a stronger and more transparent regulatory system.