Allister speaks out on Chinese dangerous toys issue
27 September 2007
In a debate in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on the import of dangerous toys from China, Jim Allister MEP identified the incident as linked to the folly of punitive EU regulation having driven manufacturing out of Europe.
In the course of his remarks Mr Allister said:-
"It is indisputably right that Mattel should have recalled these dangerous toys, but a number of pertinent issues arise.
Firstly, for all our consumer protection laws it was not the EU, or any EU agency, which picked up on the danger, but rather the parent US manufacturer. Does that not tell us something about the efficiency and reliability of our own protections?
Secondly, we impose on our own indigenous industry - in all spheres - severe standards and demands ranging from Health & Safety to CO2 emissions, yet we throw open our doors to Chinese goods which are the product of woeful production conditions, fall far short of what we require of our own factories and come from plants which belch out emissions as if there was no tomorrow. Little wonder we've driven so much manufacturing to the Far East, but with what net global gain?
In fairness to both the workers and consumers of Europe its time we brought sense and order to our approach. If we hadn't decimated our own manufacturing by punitive regulation, then, maybe now we wouldn't be so dependent on China and its shoddy goods."
