California to sue Mattel, Toys R Us

Finally some action against toy makers who sold toys with lead levels in their paint beyond permissible levels. Until now, most of the toy makers recalled the toxic products, offered a refund, and generally gave the impression that they thought that their duty to the consumer was over. The new measure proposed may however not be enough.

The California attorney general and Los Angeles city attorney said they would file a lawsuit today against Mattel Inc., Toys R Us Inc. and 18 other companies, accusing them of making or selling products that contain "unlawful quantities of lead", according to this report in the Los Angeles Times.

The moves in California comes even as toys made in the US are facing a strong revival, according to this report by AFP.

The suit, to be filed in Alameda County Superior Court under California's Proposition 65 law, would force manufacturers and retailers to adopt procedures for inspecting products to make sure they are safe, according to the report. Barring that, they would be required to warn consumers that the items contained chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects, it added.

The move does not however contain stiff penalties for toy manufacturers many of whom have already cut corners to cut costs, including not monitoring adequately their Chinese operations and their suppliers.

Not unexpectedly, Mattel, the lead defendant in the lawsuit, said it welcomed the attorney general's involvement and added that it would be helpful for the entire toy industry, according to the report in the Los Angeles Times.

If the California proposal moves forward in its current form, toy companies will not be under any threat or penalty to make sure their procedures are fool-proof across their supply chain. There is nothing to prevent them from making promises, and continue their delinquency. The state of California is ill-equipped to monitor the toy makers’ supply chain right up to Chinese suppliers to ensure that procedures are followed.

Passing the buck from manufacturers to retailers will also not help. The retailer does not contribute in contaminating the paint on a product.

Rather than go ahead with this measure, that seems more populist than designed to help users, the states in the US and the federal government should work on a proposal to give the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington more teeth. Currently most of the recalls have been voluntary. The CPSC should be given the funds and the powers to check toys and order their recall.

It is nice to know that Mattel and Co. want to improve their procedures, but users will be happier to know that the end product is being actually checked.

Related article:

Chinese toy recalls - does anybody care ?

Chinese toy recalls - does anybody care ?

U.S. safety officials have voluntarily recalled about 4.2 million Chinese-made Aqua Dots toys contaminated with a powerful "date rape" drug that has caused some children to vomit and lose consciousness upon ingesting the contents, according to this report by CNN.

The current recall of toys announced by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is the latest of many recalls of toys made in China, including by leading brands Mattel Inc. and RC2 Corp. In most of these cases the toys had lead in their paint that was far beyond permissible levels.

As holiday buying gets closer, it will appear that more toys made in China will get into markets around the world. However both big brand toy makers and local Chinese makers seem to be taking the consumer for granted.

The callous pattern is that CPSC issues a recall advisory, and it is back to business-as-usual it seems for the companies that sold the toys. The toy makers are playing with children's lives, and what is required from them is not recalls and refunds, but proactive action that does not expose children to these toxic toys.

The Aqua Dots toys toy contains a chemical that, once metabolized, converts into the toxic "date rape" drug GHB (gamma-hydroxy butyrate), accroding to CSPC."Children who swallow the beads can become comatose, develop respiratory depression or have seizures," a CPSC statement warned.

Unfortunately there aren't a lot of toys these days that aren't made in China. The rush to China by multinational toy makers and the emergence of Chinese toy makers have almost wiped out most toy makers outside China. Most of them remain as boutique toy makers, selling expensive toys. Handing over the market to China has meant that we now have fewer sources of safe toys.

There is case for banning toys made in China until the country's manufacturers recognize their responsibilities. There is also a case for boycotting some of the big brands until they can show us that they are proactively preventing harmful toys. We have to cease being supine consumers and assert our rights both as consumers and citizens.

Related articles:

Mattel toy recall: a case for banning imports of Chinese toys ?
More recalls of China made toys

Much ado about a Jewish nose

Americans are so concerned about being politically correct, that they could be losing their sense of humor, their ability to laugh at themselves. For a country that prides on being a "melting pot" for various races, communities, and ethnic groups, race or community are surprisingly becoming touchy issues.

Actress Halle Berry has apologized for making a joke about the appearance of Jewish people, according to various reports, including this one from the BBC.

If you are wondering what Berry said that could be seen as an affront to the Jews, hold your breath ! She said during US chat show Tonight with Jay Leno that a distorted photo of herself with a huge nose made her look like her "Jewish cousin".

That was a poor joke, and it doesn’t make me laugh, but I don’t think any Jews in their right mind should have objected to it. A huge nose is not part of an offensive stereotype of the Jew. In fact a number of Jewish writers do refer to Jewish characters in their books as having long, and even beaky noses.

To be sure, some will argue that this is fuel to anti-Semitism. Unfortunately anti-Semites and all other types of racist people will co-opt anything into their stereotypes of the folks they are prejudiced against whether it is “slit-eyed” Chinese, or the Indian “brown skin”.

That does not change the fact that the Chinese have slit eyes and Indians have brown skins, and yes, Jews tend to have long noses. Nothing pejorative about it. It are the facts of life, and the earlier we are willing to laugh about it (if the joke is good), and take it in our stride, the better.

RC2 Corp. recalls toys again, patience runs thin

RC2 Corp., the vendors of Thomas & Friends wooden railway toys, has recalled another 200,000 of these toys, as the surface paints on the toys can contain excessive levels of lead, violating the federal lead paint standard, according to a statement from The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

This recall by RC2 Corp., of Oak Brook, Illinois comes three months after the company recalled 1.5 million toys in the Thomas & Friends series, after finding lead paint on the surface of the products, CPSC said in July.

In both cases the toys, said to have high lead content in their paint, were made in China, adding to concerns about the safety of toys and other products made in China, including those made in China for big US brands.

Mattel Inc., another toy maker surprisingly apologized last week for damaging China's reputation by its recall of toys made in China. 2.2 million toys were recalled over impermissible levels of lead, according to a statement issued by Mattel, though it said that its lead-related recalls were overly inclusive, including toys that may not have had lead in paint in excess of US standards.

Another 17.4 million toys from Mattel were also recalled because of loose magnets, but Mattel put it down to a flaw in its design.

This “mea culpa” by Mattel, exonerating the Chinese, seems surprising, even as companies like RC2 Corp. are still reporting high lead in the paint for their toys.

The fact remains that blue-chip American companies have been shipping products that have been hazardous for the kids who played with them. The toys covered under RC2’s recall of September 26, 2007 include stuff that was sold through toy stores and various retailers nationwide from March 2003 through September 2007 ! That means toys with lead paint were still shipped up to September 2007, even though the company found and recalled other toys with lead as way back as in June, 2007. Wasn’t RC2 supposed to check for lead the whole lot of toys it had on retail shelves ?

A recall does not absolve the companies of responsibility. They have to make sure that these incidents don’t happen again. If there is a problem with the Chinese supplier, please sort it out. If there are problems with your designs, sort that out too, and make sure your designs are foolproof.

Recalls don’t make you good corporate citizens. Prevention does, and in this regard companies were caught napping. Consumer patience may be running out.

Related Articles:

Mattel apologizes for defaming the Chinese !

Mattel apologizes for defaming the Chinese !

In surprise move, toy maker, Mattel Inc, apologized on Friday for damaging China's reputation by its recall of toys made in China, according to a report from AFP in Beijing.

The vast majority of those products that the company recalled were the result of a design flaw in Mattel's design, and not through a manufacturing flaw in Chinese manufacturers, Thomas Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice president of worldwide operations, told the head of China's top product quality agency, Li Changjiang, in the Chinese capital, according to the report.

A total of 17.4 million toys were recalled because of loose magnets, which Mattel put down to the design defect. Another 2.2 million toys were recalled over impermissible levels of lead, according to a statement issued by Mattel. The company is quoted by AFP as saying that its lead-related recalls were overly inclusive, including toys that may not have had lead in paint in excess of US standards.

The recall by Mattel fueled an already growing demand for greater controls over import of toys and other goods from China. Another toy vendor, RC2 Corp. of Oak Brook, Illinois recalled in June a number of its “Thomas and Friends” railway toys, as the surface paints on these toys contained leads, according to this release. There were also other reports of sub-standard imports from China including of contaminated toothpaste.

India’s health minister also told Parliament earlier this month that Chinese toys in the Indian market were toxic as they had very high levels of cadmium and lead.

Related Articles:
Mattel toy recall: a case for banning imports of Chinese toys

Toxic Chinese toys in India too

Toxic Chinese toys in India too

India’s health ministry has said that several Chinese toys being sold in the local market are highly toxic as they contain high levels of heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, and were, therefore, harmful to children, according to a report in Indian daily, The Times of India.

The country’s toy market is dominated by branded products by Mattel and other international vendors, and a large number of toys made by Chinese companies. The Indian middle class and lower middle class overwhelmingly patronize Chinese toys that are cheaper.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the country’s upper house of Parliament, the minister said that "according to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), NGO Toxics Link had conducted a study in 2006 which examined toys from Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, and reported high levels of cadmium and lead in PVC used in soft toys."

The minister said that most of the toys in Chennai and Mumbai were being imported from China. Lead is a known neuro and hamatological toxin which can lead to delayed development and lower IQ in children, the Times of India reported.

The Bureau of Indian Standards has published three standards regarding safety of toys, according to the minister. But these are only voluntary, according to TV channel IBN Live

India has been slow in introducing legislation relating to environment and toxicity issues such as e-waste management. Its gargantuan bureaucracy and corruption at all levels of government ensure that even if there is legislation, monitoring adherence will be lukewarm.

At traffic stops in some of the key cities in the country, hawkers flagrantly sell toys and other goods of Chinese origin. Toy shops in the country also sell a large number of toys said to be of Chinese origin.

Mattel toy recall: a case for banning imports of Chinese toys ?

Once upon a time, not so long ago, toys for kids were handcrafted, and made of wood. The seven dwarfs, the fairies, elves, and other denizens of a child’s universe, were just what one would expect them to look - small and cute, with an eye to detail, and lots of realism.

Enter Fisher-Price, Mattel, and other toy companies, and they began producing in plastic, and to cut costs and appeal to mass markets, they did the inevitable – move production to Asia, mainly China.

As a result quality dropped, not only because of the Chinese, but because of the cost cutting, I guess. The Barbie dolls, owned by my daughter, broke in weeks, and soon she found greater interest in cuddly rag dolls and stuffed toys, rather than in big-breasted Barbie dolls.

The toy companies that handcrafted their toys with high quality materials were however priced out of the market. Some of them thrived in niches, designing products for the super-rich.

In the meantime, the Chinese got into their own toy design and manufacture of toys, and flooded markets around the world with low-cost, easily broken toys of questionable aesthetics. Their prices were right though, and as a result by some estimates 80 percent of toys imported to the US are from China. It is likely to be far higher in developing economies like India.

Mattel is likely to in time get its quality checks back in place, and put the embarrassment of the repeated recalls of its products, behind it. Let me point out here that bad products and recalls not only hurt company bottom lines, but a lot of kids who have already handled these unsafe gizmos.

What is worse is that the vast majority of Chinese toys entering our markets do not however go through any internationally approved quality standards. They come from companies that are hardly known outside China.

Has anyone studied those toys extensively for lead in the paint, and other threats to children ? Is there a case for governments around the world to ban these toys before they hurt kids ? Does it make sense, at this point to protect domestic industries in various countries that have been so far producing wholesome toys, but could go extinct because of competition from China ? This is not protectionism. This is for our children.

Back to the new Mattel and Fisher-Price recall this week. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced this week that:

1)Mattel Recalls Various Barbie Accessory Toys Due to Violation of Lead
Paint Standard
2)Fisher-Price Recalls Geo Trax Locomotive Toys Due To Violation of
Lead Paint Standard
3)Fisher-Price Recalls Bongo Band Toys Due to Violation of Lead Paint
Standard

The recall involves various Barbie accessory toys that were manufactured between September 30, 2006 and August 20, 2007. The model names, product numbers and affected date code numbers are listed in a chart on CPSC's web site.

The recall by Fisher-Price involves the Geo Trax Freightway Transport and Geo Trax Special Track Pack locomotive toys. These toys are red with yellow paint on the ladder and horn details, CPSC said in a release. The recalled models were manufactured between July 31, 2006 and August 20, 2007 and have a date code between 212-6CK through 325-6CK or 001-7CK through 232-7CK marked on the bottom of the product. The packaging on the Freightway Transport model is marked H5705 and the packaging on the Special Track Pack model is marked K3013, CPSC said.