Beijing to US: Respect Chinese certification

The head of China's quality inspection body asked US regulators to apply more stringent rules on Chinese exporters, the Wall Street Journal reported. Li Changjiang, director general of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ) said the US does not require Chinese companies to prove that they have been certified by Beijing, even though a Chinese certification process exists that covers 12,714 companies so far. Li said that other countries like South Korea have agreements in place that require Chinese exporters to show their certification from Beijing. He added that the government was considering raising its standards on lead in paint and products. Although China's current limits are in line with international standards, the US government has higher requirements. Paint with potentially dangerous levels of lead was behind Mattel's three global toy recalls in the past few months.