Reader Dan – Made in China
This one is by reader Dan…
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A retired Swiss Army colonel is petitioning the defence ministry to keep the famous pocket knife issued to the Alpine nation’s soldiers following reports that the next batch of 65,000 could be made in China.
Alois Kessler, a lawyer who served as a reserve officer until 2004, began his campaign after hearing that World Trade Organization rules may mean the government has to consider bids from anywhere in the world.
“A Swiss Army knife with a Swiss cross on it, and ‘Made in China’ on the back, won’t be accepted at all well,” Kessler said Thursday.
“I have real doubts that China would manage the same standards of quality” as the Swiss product, he said.
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Kessler said he is trying to convince the Army that the knife would qualify for an exemption to the WTO rule banning discrimination against foreign bidders. Alternatively, he argued the government is free to set quality and environmental criteria that non-Swiss bidders are unlikely to meet.
Kessler is also trying to appeal through the intellectual property rights that the use of the name Swiss Army Knife carries special meaning, and that any knife from China should be called something like the China Army Knife. Like gambling law in the US, sometimes these commonly shared products catch our notice and tug at the heart as well.
What is this world coming to when McGiver would have to whip out his China Army Knife to save the day!!! (The kids need to ask someone if they do not know who McGiver was.)
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This one was by Reader Dan.