The US government buys millions of condoms every year, shipping them around the world as part of an AIDS prevention effort. Additional condoms are distributed to soldiers and other government workers in risky areas.
Last March, the government decided to stop purchasing condoms from Alatech, an Alabama company that was the sole provider and employed some 300 people in condom manufacturing. Now, the condom manufacturing will be contracted out to Chinese producers, who can produce the condoms for a lower price.
All things being equal, cutting government waste is a fine idea, but China is notorious for quality control issues, and where condoms are concerned this is a matter of obvious importance.
As it turns out, there was a largely unreported scandal in November in which millions of Chinese condoms were found to be faulty, prompting a recall. Although the faulty condoms may well have been produced in another factory, the Chinese market is very difficult to control, and there’s virtually no guarantee that someone won’t try to make a quick buck by swapping the goods before they get shipped out. This is a contingency one simply must plan for in China, but it is unlikely that people with shabby rubbers are going to think about that in the heat of the moment.
