[jyl]

I suppose part of the concern is that today it may be lead in toys, tommorrow it may be poison in food, medicines, etc.

Recall that cold medicine that contained Chinese-sourced glycerin - whch was actually diethylene glycol (DEG), an ingredient of antifreeze - recently killed 365 (reported) or 100 (confirmed so far, exhumations continuing) people in Panama. Chinese-made toothpaste containing DEG was recently found in many countries, including the US (e.g. complimentary hotel toothpaste branded Gilchrist & Soames). And you recall the pet food problems earlier this year.

So it seems that there is a pretty widespread lack of safety controls on many categories of Chinese-made products - not just toys. Neither Chinese industry, the Chinese govt, the US govt, or US industry appear to have had effective ways to detect these problems. Somewhere along the supply chain, there has to be effective testing and monitoring.

Either you trust Chinese industry or government to do it, or you have to make US industry or government do it. Hence the possibility that the CPSC and similar agencies may need more resources, even if it is only to monitor and enforce testing done by private companies.

Obviously consumers cannot do it - no-one can do chemical tests on the foods and products they buy, and simply avoiding products "made in China" doesn't solve the problem since the ingredients or components may be China-sourced.

In the end, I think this problem will be solved, fairly quickly. There is too much at stake for both countries, and there isn't a major technical obstacle. But to solve it, the problem needs attention, and tainted toys do get attention.