Many importers think that China does not really protect its own consumers, and the theory is that Chinese factories simply follow the (low to inexistent) quality standards of the local market. Wrong!!

There is a great passage in the book Poorly Made In China where the author, Paul Midler, is told that the shampoo production he is paid to control would not be allowed for sale on China’s domestic market. The US importer buying this shampoo did not even know its composition!

Is this is an extreme example? I don’t think so. It is actually very common, for two reasons.

First, many (I guess thousands every year) importers in Europe and in the US do very little to check what they are actually buying from China.

Some product recalls are widely publicized, especially in sensitive categories such as toys. But this is only the tip of the iceberg, as most unsafe consumer goods are probably sold without anyone complaining to the authorities.

Second, consumer protection is getting more developed in China, especially since the scandal of Sanlu’s tainted milk. Quality standards seem to be more and more enforced.

To illustrate this second point, here is an interesting article published today in China Daily (Foreign luxury retail brands fail quality control test):

Clothes imported from some of the world top luxury brands, such as Hermes and Versace, have proven to be substandard in a routine quality control test, the Zhejiang administration for industry and commerce reported on Monday.

The test found that 48 of the 85 batches of products examined were substandard, accounting for 60 percent of of the overall sample, according to the administration.The substandard garments included those from the luxury brands Hermes, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Paul & Shark, Trussardi and Hugo Boss. The garments, which were manufactured in Italy, Morocco, Korea, France, Turkey, Vietnam and India before being imported into China, covered a range of attire, from jeans and T-shirts to sweaters, skirts and suits.

The retailers, who are required to withdraw the products, will be fined under the Product Quality Law.

I guess the provincial-level authority that checked these luxury brandname products wanted to make a certain point, and they were probably very strict. What problems were found?

Defects in the manufacturing included poor color fastness, unacceptable amounts of acid and high levels of formaldehyde, which can cause skin rashes, eye irritations, allergies, respiratory problems and even cancer, the report warned.

Another fault uncovered by the test included improper labeling.

Unfortunately, they did not disclose any additional details about the findings. By the way, you will notice that 50% of the issues (color fastness and labeling) do not directly pose any health hazard to consumers.

But here is my point: I know something about the production of garments in China, and I am certain that the results would be worse if the same tests were conducted randomly on export-bound products.

So you’ve been warned: if you import products that are subject to quality standards in your country, make sure you know these standards and make sure they are respected.