Fix dysfunctional trade associations

As a group of enterprises in the same trade, trade associations should try to maintain their independence. If they can't, the associations cannot coordinate relations among enterprises, government and the market, says an article in 21st Century Business Herald. Excerpts:

The plasticizer crisis of China's liquor industry has been going on since Dec 3. Both the China Alcoholic Drinks Association and China National Association for Liquor and Spirits Circulation issued statements supporting the widely battered spirit-production industries. The chairman and vice chairman of the latter association are the president and executive president of the troubled Hunan liquor company, which is the focus of public censure.

It is then easier to understand why the two associations stand firmly on the sides of the consumers from the very beginning of the crisis, despite hard evidence provided by the State quality check authority proving the sampled spirit contains more than 240 percent of the standard volume of plasticizer.

The tricky relations between the associations and the enterprises make it impossible for the associations to function as a coordinator or supervisor for the industry, but a convenient spokesman when scandals like quality issues are exposed.

The mis-positioning of the industrial associations also costs consumers a line of defense. The plasticizer problem has been an open secret in the industry for a long time. Once it was dug out by the "irresponsible" media, as the association called the media at first, preventing the news from evolving to an industrial crisis is almost impossible because the conflicts become between consumers and enterprises, leaving the governmental watchdogs attacked by the public for their inertia and belated response. Only the trade associations seem immune to the chaos that may cost health or even lives of consumers.

China must strengthen the regulation of the trade associations and prevent them from being abducted by powerful industries. Avoiding food-safety problems entails a well-developed supervision system that involves well-functioning trade associations, as a coordinator of relations of different parties to better safeguard the legal interests of consumers.