CHINA: Chinese toy factories look ahead amid damaged reputation from toy safety crisis

Chinese toy factories look ahead after international outrage over the safety of "Made in China" toys. This is the heart of China's toy industry where millions of workers assemble and pack the bulk of the world's toy supply. But China's toy factories, anchored in the country's southern Pearl River Delta, have been left reeling in the wake of a numerous global toy recalls questioning the safety standards of their products. In the latest case, global toy retailer, Toys "R" Us Inc is recalling 27,000 wooden coloring cases that were made in China and sold under its Imaginarium brand because lead was found in the printed ink on the art set's outer packaging and in some watercolor paints. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which announced the recall on Thursday, said the 213-piece coloring set includes crayons, pastels, colored pencils and water colors that were packaged in a light tan wooden carrying case. The printed ink on the outer packaging of the case contains lead, and some of the black watercolor paint contains excessive levels of lead, the agency said. The cases were sold at the toy retailer's stores and on its Web site from October 2006 through August 2007 for about $20. Of the 27,000 cases that were recalled, Toys "R" Us said 8,300 were sold to customers during the recall period. It marks the latest in a string of recalls of Chinese-made products due to lead paint, including Mattel Inc's recent recall of Pixar Sarge die-cast toy cars, and Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer toys. Lead paint has been linked to health problems in children, including brain damage But Chinese toy makers are looking ahead despite all the bad publicity regarding their industry. "We produce many toys for many brands and of course this incident caused attention to the quality system to all of the toy industry. It gives us a real good wake-up call, so that our industry will further look at our system and make sure that it is improved further," said Huang Tiecheng (pron: hwang-teah-cheng), chairman of Jetta Industries Co. Ltd., during a media visit to his toy factory in Panyu, a sister city of Guangzhou, the provincial capital of Guangdong province. And China has also hit back saying designers and importers should also take responsibility for product safety, but promised to punish its own manufacturers who flout standards. China is facing growing global pressure to clean up its manufacturing sector and ensure the quality of its exports after a series of scandals involving products ranging from poisonous pet food ingredients to sub-standard toys and tainted toothpaste. Top officials have described the storm surrounding Chinese-made goods as politically motivated and unfair. Li Changjiang (pron: lee-chang-djeeang), head of China's General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine had blamed differing national standards, misleading statistics and lack of communication for some of the product safety scares that have alarmed foreign consumers. Staff at Guangzhou's Customs, Inspections and Quarantine Bureau said their quality and safety testing are on par with other countries with standards fitting into those required by nations the toys would be exported to. "It should be the same. Here, we have similar equipment, testing methods and procedures. We strictly follow the requirements of the inspections standards of the United States," said Huang Lina (pron: hwang-lee-nar), head of the chemical inspections unit at the bureau. However, industry insiders say China's toymakers, with a heavy concentration of their factories in Guangdong province, have come under heavy commercial pressure in recent years. The price of raw materials, energy and labour have all risen significantly, while buyers keep asking for lower quotes. For small toy factories, like this one staffed by more than a hundred workers, producing different kind of toy balls, the margins are even lower. But Lin Zhongjian (pron: leen-djong-djeeann), general manager of Ball Star Toys Co. Ltd, says the key is that China's toy industry has been treated unfairly by their partners during the crisis. "With every kind of product, we cannot be one hundred percent certain that it will pass the grade, even with stricter and stricter quality controls. We try our best to make it a hundred percent, but even with luxury cars like Mercedes-Benz, they could not make it perfect and had some recalls. The problem from the perspective of us, the toy producers, is that both sides should be looking at where the origin of the problem is, and not one side wielding a stick and killing us by branding all products made in China as problematic," he said. And the crisis does not seem to have an end in sight with the U.S. House of Representatives' subcommittee on commerce, trade and consumer protection due to hold a Sept. 19 hearing on how to protect U.S. children from toys, jewelry and other imported products containing lead paint.

ITN Source | September 4, 2007

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