When do we just say "no"? (and mean it?)

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Mr. Obama calling for banning toy imports from China - December 20, 2007 -  His remarks Wednesday in Concord, N.H., about Chinese imports were some of the most forceful on the issue during the campaign. “I would stop the import of all toys from China,” he said, but he did not say how a ban could be carried out. The influx of Chinese toys with lead paint into the American market is a result of Bush administration cuts at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Mr. Obama said, adding, “We have just a handful of people that are inspecting all the toys that are flooding in from China.”  Source

Fish - Farming Fish in Toxic Waters - December 15, 2007 -
FUQING - Here in southern China, beneath the looming mountains of Fujian Province, lie dozens of enormous ponds filled with murky brown water and teeming with eels, shrimp and tilapia, much of it destined for markets in Japan and the West. Fuqing is No. 1 on a list for refused seafood shipments from China. Fuqing is one of the centers of a booming industry that over two decades has transformed this country into the biggest producer and exporter of seafood in the world, and the fastest-growing supplier to the United States. But that growth is threatened by the two most glaring environmental weaknesses in China: acute water shortages and water supplies contaminated by sewage, industrial waste and agricultural runoff that includes pesticides. The fish farms, in turn, are discharging wastewater that further pollutes the water supply. <excerpt, read the full report at the New York Times HERE>

NEWS IN BRIEF:
¨ Substandard products: Chinese regulators say nearly a fifth of the food and consumer products sold in China are substandard - July 5, 2007 (Source - NPR)
¨ 60% of recalls are Chinese: Chinese-made products have accounted for more than 60 percent of recalls this year, said Scott Wolfson, spokesman for the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission. So far they have recalled 338 products overall this year, Wolfson said. - July 10, 2007 (Source - NPR)
¨ Chinese admit food and drugs not very satisfactory: Chinese officials admitted after much international pressure, that "as a developing country, China's current food and drug safety situation is not very satisfactory." They had hoped to downplay the safety and health problems before the 2008 summer Olympics, to be held in Beijing.  At the same time, officials in Beijing are attempting to clean up the problems. In early July, inspectors announced they had closed 180 food factories in China in the first half of this year, and that they seized tons of candy, pickles, crackers and seafood tainted with formaldehyde, illegal dyes and industrial wax. - July 10, 2007 (Source - NPR)
¨ Only 5% of fish are inspected: The FDA only inspects about five percent of the farmed Chinese fish imports, but China is one of the top exporters of seafood to the United States. - July 10, 2007 (Source - NPR)
¨ Here's my $5.00 bill - keep the change! - A recent survey found that 92% of consumers support country of origin labeling of food. According to the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), the cost of labeling all food products would increase the grocery bill for a family of four by about four to nine cents per week. - August 4, 2007 (Source - Consumer Federation of California)
¨ COOL (Country of Origin Labeling) Delayed: On May 13, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, more commonly known as the 2002 Farm Bill. One of its many initiatives requires country of origin labeling for beef, lamb, pork, fish, perishable agricultural commodities and peanuts. On January 27, 2004, Public Law 108-199 delays the implementation of mandatory COOL for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish until September 30, 2006.  On November 10, 2005, Public Law 109-97, which delays the implementation for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised and shellfish until September 30, 2008. (Source - USDA)... Powerful agribusiness and grocery interests have successfully delayed its implementation in regards to everything but seafood labeling. (Source - Consumer Federation of California)
¨ Imports double, but FDA allocates little of its budget: U.S. agricultural imports increased from $45.7 billion in 2003 to a projected over $70 billion in 2007. Despite the dramatic increase, the Food and Drug Administration has allocated only $10.6 million of its $2.1 billion 2008 budget for strengthening food safety. Recently, FDA proposed the closure of several federal food testing laboratories including one in Oakland. Consumer and public health groups have protested the FDA closure plans. (Source - Consumer Federation of California)
¨ Tennessee - According the U.S. China Business Council, Tennessee leads all states in export growth to China. Last year alone, Tennessee's trade with China accounted for $1.8 billion dollars and marked a 1,000-percent increase over five years. (source)

According to Power of Peace information (Source) :

• According to an ongoing CNN Lou Dobbs’ poll, 91% of consumers will make an effort to buy products that were NOT made in China this holiday season.

• According to Jiang Fan, deputy head of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, birth defects in China have increased by nearly 40 percent since 2001, now affecting nearly one in every 10 Chinese households. "A baby with defects is born every 30 seconds in China, and this situation has worsened year by year," he said.

• Netherlands’ Environmental Agency now designates China as the world’s number one source of carbon dioxide. The World Bank states 16 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities are in China. Tom Cahill, Professor Emeritus at UC Davis and an international authority on airborne particles reports that China pollutants are now a measurable part of California’s daily pollution and describes China’s brown pollution plume, now visible from space, as a “3 km thick haze of dust, sulfur, nitrates and other chemicals.”  *Special Note - read report highlights below....

Carbon dioxide pollution kills hundreds a year
Environmental News Network - January 4, 2008
A new study has reported that climate-warming carbon dioxide spewed by coal-fired power plants and fossil-fueled vehicles has been causing hundreds of premature U.S. deaths each year over the several decades.  Highlights of the report:

• deaths were due to lung and heart ailments linked to ozone and polluting particles in the air spurred by carbon dioxide that comes from human activities

• carbon dioxide is one of several greenhouse gases blamed for climate change

• carbon dioxide pollution is the one humans have the most ability to control through regulation of activities that burn fossil fuels like coal and oil

• "Of the additional ... deaths per year due to ozone and particles ... about 30 percent of those occurred in California, which has 12 percent of the (U.S.) population" ~~ "It was pretty clear ... that climate change was affecting Californians' health disproportionately to its population."

• What happens in California is important, since this populous state has long been a testing ground for U.S. pollution regulation.

• Read the entire news article HERE

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Downbound - Wide range of products from kids to dogs, clothes, housewares and more.  Nothing they sell is "Made in China"

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