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(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-22 07:40

It is not too late to mend the fence even after the sheep is lost. The commitments that 21 dairy product manufacturers made to consumers on Saturday were the beginning of such fence-mending.

Different batches of infant formula manufactured by them were found to contain the chemical melamine. They promised that all problematic products will be destroyed and overall checks will be conducted at the affected plants. They also committed themselves to the strictest checks of all raw materials and finished products to guarantee both the quality and safety of everything they manufacture.

The sincerity behind these commitments should be beyond any doubt.

But there are loopholes in a number of links both in the management of manufacturers and supervision by government watchdogs. It is these loopholes that have made it possible for products to be contaminated.

Behind these loopholes is their sense of responsibility.

In the overall check of dairy products, baby formula and other milk products from many firms have been found to be safe and of sound quality. Major dairy firm Sanyuan revealed that it uses a new testing method to make sure there is no inedible protein in its raw materials.

It uses the new method because it does not trust the suppliers of raw materials. The paramount responsibility for consumers' health should render any food manufacturer not to trust anything but test results.

Premier Wen Jiabao said that enterprises should never achieve their development and growth at the expense of consumers' health.

Inadequate investment in equipment for quality checks and safety examinations, and inadequate efforts to step up the supervision of such work in essence display a lack of responsibility for consumers.

In fact, taking chances with product quality is a suicidal act for an enterprise. How can a firm survive without a good reputation?

We welcome the commitments from the dairy product manufacturers. We sincerely hope that these commitments will be supported by concrete actions to not only tighten their quality supervision, but also heighten the sense of responsibility of all their employees at every stage in the production process.

To be responsible for others is to be responsible for oneself. This should be the lesson everyone learns from this scandal.

(China Daily 09/22/2008 page4)