2007 International Trading Supplement - Standing Up To Inspection

Product recalls have been in the news this summer, with questions surrounding quality and safety standards in China in particular receiving the greatest attention.

A healthy percentage of multi-national corporations have quickly become familiar with how to make a product on one side of the world and sell it on the other side—and then perhaps offer customer support in yet another part of the world.

But in the case of some recent product recalls, several companies may have also learned that a longer supply chain requires an accompanying longer quality control chain.

Toy manufacturers and pet food processors are among those dealing with safety and health-related recalls.

But basic materials companies and recyclers who supply them must consider the same potential dilemmas. A recycling advocacy group in Ontario, as one example, is already asking elected officials if they know how their plastic scrap is used after it is exported.

The recycling industry overall has much to gain by preventing the misuse of recycled materials.

Worst-case scenarios can include contaminants in food-grade packaging as well as poorly considered materials formulation or metallurgy.

The recycling industry has rightly battled to ensure that it is not perceived as a supplier of sub-standard feedstock or as providing ingredients in sub-standard products.

It would be a mistake of global proportions to allow longer supply lines to contribute to the undoing of the improved perceptions and goodwill that the industry has fought to obtain.