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As the main supervising department for product quality, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has promulgated several regulations on defective product recalls. These regulations include the “Regulation for Defective Automobile Product Recalls” (which came into force on Oct 1, 2004), the “Regulation for Child Toy Recalls” (which was promulgated on Aug, 2007), and a 3C certification for toys (that came into force in September of 2007). These new regulations aim to eliminate incidents like “Benz smash” and the “Mattel recall” etc. The “Regulation for Medicine Recall”, implemented in December of 2007, symbolized the law’s guarantee of public medicine safety. The “Law for Food security in The People’s Republic of China (draft)” and the “Regulations for the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices” (draft amendment) are all now in the process of soliciting public opinion. These regulations represent a comprehensive system for recalling food and medical devices produced and sold in China. These new rules will also offer a further level of legal protection to consumers in terms of physical health and safety.


Furthermore, the procedure for dealing with defective product recalls has also been streamlined. According to the legislative affairs office of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the “Regulation for the Recall and Administration of Defective Products (draft)” has been submitted to the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, and is planned to be implemented next year. According to this regulation, the scope of defective product recalls extend to all products that pose a serious risk to health and safety except food, medicine, and medical devices. The implementation of this regulation will fill the shortage of rules for product recalls in China, and bring China in line with international standards. It will also avoid an unfair and discriminatory result for Chinese consumers whereby Chinese companies face unlimited liability abroad while defective foreign products only face very limited levels of liability in China.


The establishment of recall rules indicates that China has built a recall system that meets international standards. However, for protecting consumers, the regulation itself is not enough, implementation is more important. Compared to mature legal systems for product recalls in western countries, there is still a long way to go.

 

召回？召回！

作者： 李咏梅      诉讼仲裁组 国内诉讼部

近年来，“中国制造”频频被曝存在质量问题。从水产养殖产品到牙膏，从沙滩车到汽车轮胎，从玩具到手机……中国出口产品在国际市场引发“信任危机”。同时，国内 “手机爆炸”到 “欣弗”等产品缺陷致人死亡事件，也频频牵动人们的神经，产品安全问题一再凸现在国人面前。

     诸多集中爆发的产品质量问题，促使中国的主管部门从多层面加快了产品召回制度的建立和健全工作。国家质检总局作为最主要的产品质量监管部门，出台了多项行业缺陷产品召回规定，例如，2004年10月1日实施的《缺陷汽车产品召回管理规定》、2007年8月颁布的《儿童玩具召回管理规定》和9月正式实施的玩具产品3C认证，积极稳妥地消除了“砸奔驰车”及“美泰召回”等事件的不利影响。2007年12月实施的《药品召回管理办法》标志着公众用药安全受到制度保证。正在公开征集各界意见的《中华人民共和国食品安全法(草案)》及《医疗器械监督管理条例（修订草案）》，明确了即将在国内推行的食品及医疗器械召回制度，这些制度一旦实施，无疑将为消费者的身体健康和生命安全提供进一步的法律保障。

    中国首部关于缺陷产品召回制度的法规也加快了进程。根据从国家质检总局法规司了解的信息，《缺陷产品召回管理条例（草案）》已递交国务院法制办，并计划于明年推出。根据该草案，缺陷产品召回的范围进一步扩大，除了食品、药品、医疗器械外，其他所有可能造成严重人身健康伤害的产品都将被将纳入召回范围。该条例出台后将弥补中国召回制度的缺失，加强与国际的接轨，避免出现中国缺陷产品在国外面临巨额惩罚，而国外缺陷产品在中国只是支付少额赔偿，中国消费者被采取歧视待遇的严重不公平结果。

    召回制度的建立标志着中国逐渐建立了与国际接轨的缺陷产品管理体系。但消费者的权益保障，只有法规是不够的，更重要的是法规的贯彻落实。相对于西方国家成熟的产品召回法规体系，中国的产品召回制度无疑任重而道远。