Beijing's quality control authorities will attach an "electronic
identification label" to every barrel of drinking water in a bid to
improve water safety.
The labels will help consumers identify whether barreled water
products are fake, the Beijing News reported
yesterday.
The Beijing bureau of quality and technical supervision hoped to
extend the monitoring system to all of the barreled water produced
in Beijing by March 15, 2008, the report said.
Twenty-eight barreled water manufacturers, including some
well-known brands such as Wahaha, Robust and Huiyuan, have adopted
the label system.
The move comes amid increasing public concern about the quality
of barreled water, which is generally available at many of the
city's office buildings and homes.
In July, a report by the Beijing Times cited an insider
as saying that almost half of the water sold in the capital could
be fake, causing an uproar and drawing attention from local quality
authorities.
An estimated 100 million barrels were drunk in Beijing last
year.
"We received complaints that some small water sellers are
cheating consumers with bogus water," Bai Jianguo, a section chief
from the bureau, was quoted by the Legal Times as
saying.
"But when we want to pin the responsibility on someone, the
manufacturers and sellers start shuffling the blame," he said.
"There is not much that we can do since it is so difficult to
distinguish who is at fault."
Under the new monitoring system, a code will be printed beneath
a label on the mouth of every barrel.
People can verify the authenticity of the water by calling or
sending a message to 95001111, or by visiting www.95001111.com, the official
website of the Product Identification, Authentification and
Tracking System operated by the General Administration of Quality
Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine. They can lodge a complaint
with the bureau if the code fails to match the product.
(China Daily September 17, 2007)