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Posted by Daniel Workman Aug 26, 2007 |
Shortly after poisoned dog food recalls, the safety of Chinese exports is once again in the headlines.
Over 83 types of toys including best-selling Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters are suspected of having excessive amounts of lead in their paint. This has forced Fisher-Price to announce a worldwide recall of 967,000 toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the U.S. between May and August. Mattel reports that about 20 of these toys were sold in Canada during the past 3 months.
Fisher-Price's General Manager, David Allmark, said that the lead problem was detected by the company's internal investigation.
What's called into question here is the fact that China doesn't have stringent quality controls in place. Some international trade consultants say that importing countries may soon develop their own procedures to test the safety of imports.
At the recent North American trade summit in Montebello, Quebec, all three political leaders indicated that the safety of imported goods is a major concern. Canadian Prime Minister Harper, U.S. President Bush and Mexican President Calderon promised to work with trading partners to identify and stop unsafe food and products before they enter their countries.
Shifting the burden for safe production measures solely onto importers involves far too much cost and is inefficient. The Chinese government needs to take an active role in ensuring that safety comes first - both for the workers and for global consumers.
Expect to see a big downturn in Mattel and Fisher-Price sales as worried parents do everything in their power to protect their children. And there is at least one Chinese exporter that is sure to lose a major contract with Mattel and Fisher-Price. Amid the recall, the Chinese toy-factory owner hung himself. One of the owner's friends had supplied the dangerous paint.