Yet More Toys from China Recalled

Mattell has announced yet another recall of toys made in China. This time, the recall affects Mattel’s flagship brand, Barbie. For those who wonder how Wal-Mart fits in to Mattel’s latest toy recall, this quote from a Financial Times story yesterday points out the key:

“Wal-Mart and these other buyers keep pushing for better terms, regardless of the conditions we face,” adds the owner of a textiles plant in the Shanghai area, wishing not to be identified. “Everyone is facing higher costs, but they can get away with it because the orders are so large and because there are so many companies competing for the same business.”

Mattel Issues Third Recall of China-Made Toys [Forbes]

As if Big Bird, Elmo, and cartoon friends hadn’t proved hazardous enough, parents around the globe now need to watch out for Barbie-branded miniature dogs and cats, tables and chairs from a Barbie kitchen play set, GeoTrax’s rail and road system, and the Big Big World 6-in-1 Bongo Band, as Mattel on Tuesday recalled 848,000 Chinese-made toys that contain excessive amounts of lead paint.

The voluntary recall announced late Tuesday night covers 11 types of toys globally, including 675,000 units of accessories--pet figurines and furniture play sets--sold under the Barbie brand and 98,900 units of Fisher-Price toys because of impermissible levels of lead. More than 60% of them were sold in the United States. The recall results from Mattel’s ongoing investigation of its toys manufactured by vendors in China.

“We apologize again to everyone affected and promise that we will continue to focus on ensuring the safety and quality of our toys,” Robert Eckert, chairman and CEO of Mattel (nyse: MAT - news - people ), said in a statement.

The Barbie-labeled play sets were produced by Holder Plastic Co., a Mattel contract vendor, which subcontracted the painting of miniature toy pets and small furniture pieces to Dong Lian Fa and Yip Sing. Dong Lian Fa is a small factory operating in Dongguan, an industrial town in Guangdong province. Yip Sing, set up in 2000, employs about 100 workers in its 1,000-square-meter factory in Shenzhen.

The problematic GeoTrax toys were manufactured by Apex Manufacturing Co., which outsourced paint work to the Boyi Plastic Products Factory. Apex supplied Boyi with certified paints; however, Boyi, a small plant in Dongguan with fewer than 50 workers, used uncertified paint to finish the toys. Boyi was closed down recently.

Once again, small Chinese subcontractors have proved dangerous not only to the long-term health of children around the world but to the corporate health of Mattel as well. Yesterday recall was the third by Mattel since early August.

In mid-August, Mattel recalled of millions of Chinese-made toys because they contained small magnets that could be swallowed or carried unsafe levels of lead. (See “ Mattel Takes Back The Toys"). The toy maker first alarmed consumers in early August, with a massive recall of 1.5 million toys worldwide, including such popular characters as Big Bird, Elmo, Dora the Explorer and Diego, coated with lead paint.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, September 05, 2007