I have seen no indication whatsoever that "3rd world appliances" are burning up at a rate that exceeds appliances made in first world countries. The problem is that the standards don't force the GFCIs and the appliances to live in peace.
GFCIs are a great idea. However, they have inherent problems with tiny amounts of leakage current that is present in just about everything due to filtering, among other things. You get enough 100 microamp leakages on a circuit with an undefined surge on startup to some higher value, and eventually you are going to have issues.
