The scandal involving high-end furniture retailer Da Vinci's alleged sale of fake imported goods widened yesterday as investigations pointed to loopholes in the nation's quality-control system for imports.
The Beijing News reported yesterday that inspection records that were supposed to be made public could not be retrieved from authorities' official websites, and that such records as were available showed no evidence that Da Vinci's furniture had been checked.
The newspaper said records showed the national administration for quality control had inspected wooden furniture in 2009 and 2010, but Shanghai inspection authorities provided records of wooden furniture inspected only in 2010. The city's industry and commerce office had provided records of wooden furniture destined for retail that were checked only in 2004 and 2009.
'Currently we are mostly inspecting common and popular consumer products and seldom touch expensive imported goods,' an official with the department said.
A report by Xinhua confirmed the lack of oversight, citing another unidentified official as saying their scope of monitoring was limited by a fixed operating budget that prevented them from buying expensive luxury goods for inspection. As a result, only cheaper goods were inspected.
Shanghai-based luxury furniture chain Da Vinci has been under scrutiny since last week when a China Central Television programme accused the chain of selling domestically made furniture as imports from Italy. The claims have caused a major scandal among Da Vinci's wealthy customers, who were previously keen to pay high prices for its showy, European-style furniture.