European Commission spox recall of Mattel toys
Another week, another recall of toys made in China, said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, who suggested holding and inspecting all imports of Chinese toys for lead paint can not wait any longer for China crack down against its lax safety standards This must stop now before more children and more families are in danger.
Rep Mike Ferguson, RN J said companies whose toys are made in China need to be sure that their products meet safety standards US If they don t, I believe that Congress must give federal regulators the power to to ensure that our children toys won t hurt them in fact, he said.
In a conference call with reporters, CEO Bob Eckert Mattel said the company is intensifying its monitoring and control in its production processes Consequently, he noted, more recalls may occur.
There is no guarantee that we will not be here again and have more recalls, Eckert said that we are testing at a very high level here.
In full-page ads in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today Tuesday, Mattel said it was one of the most trusted names with parents and working extremely hard to address your concerns and continue creating safe, fun toys for you and your children.
Tuesday's recalls were the latest blows to the toy industry of the nation, which relies on China for about 80 percent of the toys sold in the United States.
On August 2, Mattel recalled about 1 5 million made in China for Fisher-Price toys, including characters such as Dora the Explorer, Big Bird and Elmo that contain lead paint In June, about 1 5000000 Thomas Friends toys path wooden iron, imported from China and distributed by RC2 Corp. were recalled because of lead paint.
Lead is toxic if ingested by young children Under current regulations, children's products found that more than 06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.
There is no excuse for lead is found in toys entering this country, North said it is totally unacceptable and must stop.
North said the company has stopped selling the recalled products, asked retailers to pull the shelves and made a production change Mattel also offers alternatives.
The Commission of safety of consumer products, which negotiated details of Mattel recalls, reported that in the previous recall of Polly Pocket play sets Nov. 21, 2006, three children were injured by swallowing more than one magnet Three suffered intestinal perforations requiring surgery.
When more than one magnet is swallowed, they can attach to each other and cause intestinal perforation, infection or blockage, which can be fatal.
In March 2006, another toy company, Mega Brands Inc. recalled Aug. 3 million Magnetix magnetic building sets after one child died and four others were seriously injured after swallowing tiny magnets in them.
Mattel officials said they became aware in late July of potential problems in factories in China and began investigating When testing to determine which products could be affected, the company alerted the CPSC, Eckert said.
The Mattel executive said the decision to go forward with a recall was made at the end of last week, when The Associated Press learned late Monday that another Mattel recall was in the works and contacted the CPSC, a spokesman declined to comment.
CPSC spokesman Scott Wolfson said the time between this decision and the announcement was spent determining the scope and exact nature of the problem, as well as negotiating with the company on the remedy for the recall, the logistics of an information line and a Web presence for He said to remember the information in these logistical considerations are necessary to ensure that at the time of the announcement of the CPSC, the consumer will have those tools and they will know what the next steps.
A few days after August 2 Fisher-Price recall, Chinese officials temporarily banned the toys manufacturer, Lee Der Industrial Co export products A Lee Der co-owner, Cheung Shu-hung, committed suicide in a warehouse weekend, apparently by hanging, the newspaper reported Monday in the management of the state.
For more information about Tuesday's recalls, consumers should call Mattel at 888-597-6597 for more information about toys with magnets, or 800-916-4997 for more information on cast cars under .
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