The Portrait of an Olympic Host -- Another Mattel recall of Chinese-made
toys expected

International Herald Tribune

Another Mattel recall of Chinese-made toys expected

By David Barboza
Tuesday, August 14, 2007

SHANGHAI: Mattel, the world's largest toy company, was expected to
announce as early as Tuesday its second major recall in a month because
of defective toys that were made in China, according to people working
with the company.

Among the products that may be recalled are die-cast toy cars, according
to people close to Mattel, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A spokeswoman for Mattel, which is based in El Segundo, California,
could not be reached for comment early Tuesday. The Associated Press
originally reported the recall.

The recall would be another major embarrassment for Mattel, which is
thought to be one of the most conscientious toy makers and is known for
having sophisticated inspection and testing systems at many of its
facilities in China to guard against flawed, defective or tainted products.

The recall could also feed growing international worries about the
quality and safety of consumer products made in China. It would follow a
series of other recalls this year involving everything from contaminated
pet food ingredients and defective tires to tainted Chinese-made toothpaste.

Earlier this month, Mattel recalled over one million toys, including
Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer products made by its Fisher-Price
unit, because they were contaminated with excessive levels of lead in
their paint, which if ingested could pose health hazards to children.

Mattel said Lee Der Industrial, a longtime contract manufacturer based
in southern China, was responsible for producing the toys that contained
excessive levels of lead.

Mattel stopped accepting goods from the contractor and last week the
Chinese government revoked Lee Der's export license.

In a dramatic twist to the recall story, last Saturday, Zhang Shuhong,
one of the owners of Lee Der, apparently committed suicide by hanging
himself in a factory warehouse in the city of Foshan, according to a
report in China's state-controlled media.

A spokesman for the Guangdong Public Security Bureau in southern China
confirmed Tuesday that the police were investigating Zhang's death.

Xiao Bindong, a spokesman for the bureau, said: "It is now confirmed
that Mr. Zhang Shuhong committed suicide on the afternoon of August 11."

China insists that the vast majority of its exports are safe and of high
quality.

Many international toy industry officials also say that while the
recalls are serious, the problem with defective toys made in China is
being grossly exaggerated.

"There are something like 30,000 different toy products on sale at any
one time," said Ian Anderson, the Asia-Pacific director at SGS, a
consumer testing company that works with Mattel and other toy makers in
China. "How many items have been recalled lately? Anyone can have
something go awry. It's difficult to stay on top of everything."

But U.S. congressmen and consumer product safety officials from the
European Union have expressed growing concern in recent months over the
number of defective and tainted products coming from China, which makes
most of the world's toys.

Last month, a pair of U.S. senators even proposed new legislation that
sought to ban imported children's products from China unless they were
first certified as safe.

Responding to such criticism, the Chinese government says it is now
stepping up its inspection of toys and other products and that it is
cracking down on companies that act illegally.

In revoking the export license of Lee Der Industrial, which made the
tainted Mattel toys, Chinese regulators said they found the company had
used a "fake lead-free" paint pigment that came from the company's paint
supplier.

At the time of the recall, Mattel officials said the Lee Der facility
had testing equipment on site that should have detected lead paint, and
that the company had been a reliable supplier for at least 15 years.
Mattel has not yet explained what went wrong. On Monday, the company
issued a brief statement saying it was saddened to hear about the death
of the Lee Der official.

The recalls, however, underscore the problems facing toy makers and
other companies doing business in China. China has become a
manufacturing powerhouse by depending on cheap labor and savvy
cost-cutting measures.

But sometimes, under pressure to cut costs or win contracts, Chinese
manufacturers have cut corners, experts here say, and chosen to use
cheap and illegal substitutes.

Last June, for instance, another major toy company, the RC2 Corporation
of Illinois, recalled 1.5 million popular Thomas & Friends wooden toy
railroad sets because for at least two years they were being coated with
paint containing excessive levels of lead, even though the manufacturers
were aware of restrictions on paint containing lead, RC2 officials later
said.

In case after case involving Chinese-made products that were recalled
this year, there has been evidence that many Chinese manufacturers
intentionally added cheap or illegal substances to save money.

While paint containing lead has long been restricted from being used in
toys made for the United States, Europe and even China, it remains much
cheaper than lead-free paint. Companies here say paint containing lead
is sometimes preferred because it offers richer colors and is easier to
apply and to dry. And so some companies continued to blend it into paint
supplies, according to toy consultants.

High levels of lead have also been found in Chinese-made jewelry and
trinkets, posing serious health hazards, according to U.S. officials.
Notes:
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