The World Trade Organization clarified Tuesday that a Chinese official at a WTO committee meeting referred to the widespread adulteration of milk with the toxic chemical melamine as an "incident," rather than as an "accident" as previously reported.The WTO correction is an indication of the Chinese government's sensitivity to the international community's reaction to the latest in a string of Chinese food safety debacles that have raised concerns around the world.
The Chinese description of the issue as an "accident" was seen by the news media as an attempt by Chinese authorities to play down the issue.
In the original summary of the Sanitary and Phytosanitary committe meeting, a WTO official quoted a Chinese official as saying that the contamination was an "accident," but apparently the Chinese delegation did not mean to use the word "accident" as understood in English.
"They merely wanted to refer to it as an 'incident,'" a WTO official said.
