US, China, EU vow closer co-op on product safety

WASHINGTON - The United States, China, and the European Union held their third trilateral summit on consumer product safety in Washington Friday, vowing closer cooperation and coordination to ensure and improve product safety.

The meeting was attended by Chairperson of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPS) Inez Tenenbaum, EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner John Dalli and the Vice-Minister of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), Sun Dawei.

The summit participants exchanged opinions and information concerning seamless surveillance, tracking and traceability, as well as safety information dissemination on consumer products.

The three parties decided to outline specific steps required to move towards a seamless surveillance model of product safety enforcement involving cooperation between relevant product safety services, said a joint statement released at the meeting.

In addition, research on relevant standards in the field of consumer products of shared concern by the three parties would be continued, according to the joint statement.

The three parties should strengthen seamless surveillance over the whole supply chain of international consumer product trade on the basis of mutual trust, said Sun at a joint press conference following the talks, adding that China would continue its efforts to improve product safety.

The trilateral cooperation on product safety was aimed at protecting the interests of consumers, Tenenbaum noted. Enhanced international regulatory cooperation could improve the safety of products reaching consumers, she added.

The first trilateral summit on consumer product safety was held in Brussels in 2008, while the second meeting was convened in Shanghai in 2010.