Win consumers' trust with actions

The quality tests' pass ratio of domestic dairy products has become the source of controversy. The State quality inspection authority says the ratio is 86 percent, while the spokesman of China's top political advisory body said the pass ratio is 99 percent, said an article in the 21st Century Business Herald. Excerpts:

Hong Kong is banning purchases by Chinese mainlanders of more than 2 tins of infant formula powder because the demand from mainland consumers was so strong that local parents weren't able to buy enough of the product.

There is no shortage of dairy products in the mainland market. The problem is that the imported products are too expensive due to taxes, and consumers do not trust domestic brands.

Consumers do not trust the State quality inspection authority either. Most food safety incidents in China's dairy industry were exposed by consumers or by the media, not by quality watchdogs.

China's quality inspection system must be reformed to win the public's trust back. Under the current system, the quality inspection authority is not only responsible for checking the products' quality but also supervising and punishing problematic companies. Two different parties should be in charge of those two tasks.

Quality inspection departments should not rely on the samples selected and chosen by the companies, but should do random sample checks.

Even some household names of the domestic dairy industry, which are recognized by the quality inspection authority as credible companies, sometimes are no different from the other illegal companies producing sub-quality products.

The quality inspection authority cannot rebuild consumers' confidence simply by boasting of the high quality tests' pass ratio.