Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao called for stiffer penalties for those found ignoring safety standards in manufacturing on Friday, state media reported. “Our country has many food safety rules and laws, but there are still many transgressions and the main reason is that we have not clamped down hard enough,” said Wen at a national work meeting in Beijing, citing low fines for substandard food products, law enforcement problems and low barriers to market entry as areas to be addressed. Chinese products have come under intense international scrutiny following a number of scandals involving consumer products tainted with industrial chemicals. Concerns over product safety have fueled discomfort with China’s status as a the world’s biggest exporter, leading to a number of proposed laws in the US and Europe to restrict imports which may be unsafe.
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