I got this lovely email the other day, that I am going to reproduce here, as sent:
Dear Gentleman,
I have many years experience south China(Shanghai)
in trading producks, since long ago grasps very many domains
the production factory information, moreover has the good
relation with the Chinese massive many companies. I can find
cheaper producks with good quantity.If you want to establish
the initial relation with the Chinese company or and the more
Chinese company carry on the relation, more opportunities and
the Chinese production merchant carry on the trade, we are willing
to provide the corresponding help. You only need the product
which tells us you to need, the request and the idea. We can
in the Chinese with all one’s strength help, you at your service,
the loyal hope can become the your firm forever friends.
Best regards!
Mr. Lu
Now, I’m overlooking his grammar and spelling, as it much better than mine or yours would be in Cantonese or Mandarin, so cut Mr. Lu some slack. English is damn hard language to learn and I don’t have my tongue in my cheek.
It brings us to the more recent news of all kinds of counterfeits and knockoffs being imported into Canada, the US, Europe and elsewhere. The most recent one is counterfeit Colgate Toothpaste being sold in Canada. The toothpaste looks for all the world like your conventional tube of the well known brand. With a couple of exceptions. First, it says it is made in South Africa, spelled Arfica and it happens to contain very bad bacteria could make you very sick, or kill you.
Second, there is no Canadian DIN number on the tube. The DIN, or Drug Identification Number is the proof that the product making any health claims, or classified as one by Health Canada, has passed various tests. For example, Life Brand Psyllium Husks for Fiber Therapy carries a DIN of 02247435. It is in excruciatingly small type, but it’s there.
Remember the Melamine in Pet Food scare of a few months ago? The reason melamine showed up in pet food, was that pet food makers were looking for sources of protein that were cheap. China produces a number of things that go into food, like the various powders, chemicals and additives that are needed to manufacture foods. China can produce them at insanely cheap prices, so any business with a half a lick of sense would consider sourcing some of them from China.
Surmising here, the potential buyer said "We need wheat gluten concentrate powder at X% protein/ per gram, per this test." The supplier looked at the test and figured out a way to fudge the results using melamine to jack the apparent protein content up past the requirement.
Like any business, the buyer looked at the price per kilogram, added in the shipping and said "Hot Damn! Fill us a half dozen containers full of bags of that stuff and get it on a boat! Here’s the cash!" The buyer started rubbing his hands together, knowing they saved a lot of money and could increase their profits very nicely.
The seller dutifully shipped it and took the money. The buyer did a cursory test and yes, it met the standard for % of protein per gram, then dropped into the production process to make pet food.
As Fluffy and Rover started getting horrendously sick and dying, someone decided to look the components that went into the pet food. Through an amazing miracle, the wheat gluten powder was contaminated with melamine. Melamine, combined with formaldehyde makes melamine resin, that indestructible dinnerware you have up at the cottage, or at the camp. It is also used in counter tops, fabrics, glues and flame retardants.
We all know what followed after that. There were massive recalls, several hundred housepets got sick, some died and others will never be the same again. But the two essential reasons it happened in the first place were these: Blind Greed. No Rules or Repercussions.
China’s definition of repercussions has some lattitude: Generally, it’s a ‘tsk, tsk’ and a press release stating that their standards are as good as any.
The other side of the repercussions is this: On July 10th, the Chinese government executed Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of the food and pharmaceutical safety agency. He was convicted of taking bribes from various companies and, one would surmise, not sharing.
Today, this nugget came via the Xinhgua new agency: "From today onwards, toothpaste manufacturers are not allowed to use diethylene glycol as an ingredient," the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a notice posted late Wednesday on its Web site." Oh. Good to know now. How about piss? Is piss allowed in Chinese toothpaste?
We come back to the issue that truly drives it: Blind Greed. Manufacturers are willing to cut any corners possible to make a buck. China is willing to produce stuff that manufacturers want at any price, so they can make a buck. You and I, merrily trusting manufacturers to do their jobs properly, pay the price.
I’m not saying China is the sole source of badness here. Some mouth-breathers are calling for labeling laws and No China content boycotts. That’s just dumb, semi-racist, knee-jerk badness. China isn’t bad, nor is India, or any other country that is trying to crawl up the chain to first world status: They’ll do what they have to do.
The real culprit is the North American business person who moves his or her lips to the "Quality in Everything We Do" and "Our People Are Our Greatest Resource" mantras. Meanwhile they’re trying to find a way to squeeze the last cent out of their people, suppliers and products, while simultaneously screwing their competitors.
If they could find a way to get pulverized human skulls into their product, instead of proper ingredients, they would start looking at countries with really bad human rights records and trying to cut a deal. Hey, Buy Low, Sell High and Let The Buyer Beware.
Or, to quote Mr. Lu, I can have a firm, forever friend with the Chinese massive many companies.
RoadDave 