I submitted the following file (note the blanks):
$ cat testblanks.csv
1997, Ford, E350<p>The following was returned:
CREATE TABLE testblanks (Column_1 NUMERIC(32, 16),Column_2 VARCHAR(5) CHARACTER SET utf8,Column_3 VARCHAR(5) CHARACTER SET utf8);
INSERT INTO testblanks VALUES (1997,' Ford',' E350');<p>That was in accordance with <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4180" rel="nofollow">http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4180</a><p>Cool!<p>But the CSV format has a lot of "gotchas." See, for example, <a href="http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware3/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=99824&ixReplies=25" rel="nofollow">http://discuss.fogcreek.com/joelonsoftware3/default.asp?cmd=...</a>. Especially the rant about the Microsoft version of CSV.