Car quality supervision should focus on consumer rights

After AQSIQ asked Toyota Motor to explain the recall of the vehicle, Toyota Motor announced yesterday that it will recall some imported Lexus RX300/350 cars in mainland China from March 23rd for free maintenance and replacement of carpet pressboards. Previously, Toyota recalled 2.39 million problem cars in global markets such as the United States. Unlike Toyota’s recall of models in mainland China, Toyota is mainly revising the problem that floor mats may interfere with accelerator pedals. However, Toyota said that cars put on the Chinese mainland market did not use the same defective engine or accessories and did not implement a recall. The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine immediately met with Toyota to make a complete explanation and requested it to ensure the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese consumers ("Wuhan Evening News," February 27).

In this regard, before Toyota Motor has yet to respond to AQSIQ’s request for its full explanation of the recall of the vehicle and provide detailed technical explanations, it is not possible at this time for Toyota to implement Chinese consumers. The reason for the differential recall treatment is to make a judgment. At the same time, as Chinese consumers, while fully affirming that AQSIQ requires Toyota to make a complete explanation, there should be sufficient reason to expect changes in the regulation of automobile quality from specific interventions to institutional regulations.

First of all, according to consumer statutory rights, it is known that according to the relevant provisions of the Consumer Protection Law of China, in addition to enjoying legal rights such as right to information and equal transactions, there is an important right which is the right to respect, that is, the purchase of goods. There should be no discriminatory or differentiated treatment when receiving services. However, one may have to admit that in the past a considerable period of time, domestic consumers are often treated differently when they buy goods and receive services, and especially when they purchase foreign branded goods. In this case, whether the Toyota recall incident was temporarily suspended is not involved in discrimination. In fact, many years ago, when the “Toshiba laptop” incident occurred, Japanese companies used “under the excuse of meeting Chinese quality requirements” as their excuse to implement differentiated treatment for domestic consumers, which was in fact a typical example of discrimination against domestic consumers. In this regard, although this Toyota recall incident has not yet been conclusive, but at the institutional level, it promotes a sound system for the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of domestic consumers, and promotes the development of relevant quality standards and their regulatory systems in order to further improve domestic product quality supervision. From specific interventions to institutional norms, it should obviously be a matter of social and public interest that cannot be evaded by the relevant quality supervision departments.

There is also a need for social public safety. It is also well known that the quality of automobiles is a matter of life and public health. And compared with the requirements of human health and safety, it should be said that no matter what department or whether there is any reason to look “pretty”, it cannot and should not be overridden by the public’s safety requirements and be relaxed. The excuse for any product quality supervision or economic "development". Therefore, from this point of view, the "quality of life is greater than heaven" requirement to promote the construction of commodity quality supervision system, while replacing the current specific intervention with the institutional norms, and then to "conform to China's quality requirements" will no longer be a number of German foreign brands discriminate against domestic consumption Excuses. Obviously it should be the domestic market supervision department, and it should be an important issue that should draw lessons from and reflect on similar events in the earlier Toshiba laptop.

Therefore, in the face of Toyota's "recall incident" and AQSIQ's appointment with me recently, I would like to say: I hope that the supervision of automobile quality can change from specific interventions to institutional norms.