Toys News
- China taking U.S. toy recalls seriously
Date: 28-Sep-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
CHINA reacted Thursday to yet another recall of Chinese-made toys in the United States - this time by retailing giant Target - by saying it would work seriously to resolve the problem.
'The Chinese Government retains a consistent attitude towards any new recalls or new product quality problems,'commerce ministry spokesman Wang Xinpei told reporters.
'We will take every effort to resolve the problems seriously and responsibly according to the facts, even if there has only been one problem in a thousand products.'
Target announced Wednesday a voluntary recall of Chinese-made toy gardening tools and children's lawn furniture because they contained 'excessive levels of lead.'
The recall affects 350,000 toys bearing the 'Happy Giddy Gardening Tools?and 'Sunny Patch Children's Chairs?logos, the retailer said.
U.S. firm RC2 Corp. also said Wednesday that it would voluntarily recall five types of 'Thomas and Friends?wooden toy train items made in China, due to high lead paint levels.
The announcements were the latest of a spate of recalls that have sullied the 'Made-in-China?brand in the United States and elsewhere around the world.
But Wang stressed that problems should be resolved on the basis of facts, implying that China should not once again become a scapegoat after U.S. toy giant Mattel apologized to the Asian giant following its recent product recalls.
'Mattel's executive vice president visited China not long ago and apologized for the impact of its recalls on Chinese products,'he said. 'This has spoken for something.'
Mattel issued a startling apology to China on Friday, saying the vast majority of recent recalls of Chinese-made products were due to design flaws it had committed itself.
A total of 17.4 million Mattel toys were recalled because of loose magnets, which were due to the design and had nothing to do with Chinese makers, while 2.2 million toys were recalled over high levels of lead, the company said.
China is the world's top toy exporter, selling 22 billion toys overseas last year, or 60 percent of the globe's total.
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