Toys News
- Mattel announces third recall of Chinese-made toys
Date: 6-Sep-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
THE U.S. maker of Barbie dolls Mattel announced Tuesday yet another massive recall of Chinese-made toys, targeting some 844,000 items with excessive levels of lead, the company said in a statement.
'As a result of the company's ongoing investigation, the company has voluntarily recalled 11 (types of) toys globally,'the statement from company headquarters in El Segundo, California said.
It is the third such recall of Chinese-made toys this summer.
Prior recalls affecting millions of toys prompted an internal investigation of Mattel toys made by Chinese manufacturers, which resulted in Tuesday's recall of 522,000 items within the United States and 322,000 more worldwide, the statement said.
'Consequently, several subcontractors are no longer manufacturing Mattel toys,'said Mattel's chief officer Robert Eckert in the statement.
Several of the affected items are Barbie accessories, but not the dolls themselves, Mattel said.
The company also recalled three toys in its Fisher-Price range made by Chinese manufacturers and will refund the purchase price to consumers.
China's chief safety regulator last week blamed Mattel's designs for its prior recalls of toys made in China.
'I myself looked at some of the samples of these problematic toys, and I found that there is a serious problem with the design. The design is seriously defective,'said Li Changjiang, head of China's General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
Li said U.S. designers and importers should also take responsibility for 80 percent of the substandard toys.
The world's largest toymaker recalled more than 18 million Chinese-made toys in August because of hazards from small magnets that can cause injury if swallowed, just two weeks after it recalled 1.5 million toys due to fears over lead paint.
Li also said Chinese factories were in the clear over the alleged discovery of formaldehyde in clothing sold in New Zealand.
He blamed differing national standards, misleading statistics and lack of communication for some of the product safety scares.
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