Dealing with a Recall Crisis
After Stumbling, Mattel Cracks Down in China [New York Times]
The alarm bell went off for Mattel just as it was preparing to announce that it would recall 1.5 million Chinese-made toys tainted with lead paint.
Surrounded by boxes of Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels cars and other sample toys, Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel’s executive vice president for worldwide operations, was leading a tense early morning trans-Pacific telephone conference with his team in Hong Kong, where it was 9 p.m. At the time, recalled Mr. Debrowski, Mattel thought it was dealing with at most “a single failure, from a single vendor who made a big mistake.”
But in the middle of the meeting on July 30, Mattel learned otherwise.
“I’ve got bad news,” interrupted David Lewis, senior vice president for Asian operations, who had just taken a call from the company’s safety lab in Shenzhen, China, where toys made by outside companies are tested. “We’ve had another failure. It was one of the toys in the Pixar cars.”
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Wednesday, August 29 | 0 comments | Permalink
What Can We Do About Dangerous Chinese Goods?
China Targets Unqualified Toy Makers [AP via Washington Post]
China needs to effectively address its product safety problems, a U.S. lawmaker said Tuesday as the country launched a campaign to weed out unqualified manufacturers amid a global recall of Chinese-made toys.
Toys are among a lengthening list of Chinese exports that have been found to contain high levels of chemicals and toxins, triggering worldwide concerns and numerous recalls of goods ranging from toothpaste to pet food ingredients.
“This is a very real problem,” said Rep. Rick Larsen, who was on a weeklong visit to China. “It’s visceral.”
“It’s about your child, and it’s about your pet, and it’s about food on the table,” said Larsen, a Democrat from Washington state. “You can’t get more personal than that for Americans, and so it does need to be addressed.”
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, August 28 | 0 comments | Permalink
If The CPSC’s Not Inspecting Toys, Who Will?
More Paper Tiger Than Watchdog? [BusinessWeek]
From potentially dangerous toys to lead-laced baby bibs, recent recalls have raised worries about goods imported from lightly regulated Chinese factories. The episode has also focused attention on the tiny federal agency that ought to be preventing such mishaps. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting buyers from injury and death from some 15,000 kinds of products. Yet while the CPSC has never been more vital, through much of its 33-year history the agency has been chronically understaffed and underfunded. Overseeing 400 recalls a year, most at companies’ requests, the CPSC’s compliance team has less time to initiate its own investigations, which tend to reveal the most serious risks.
Guaranteeing the safety of a rising flow of imported goods is so difficult, some insiders regard the CPSC as more of a paper tiger than a public protector. Here’s what ails the agency and what might be done about it.
How powerful is the CPSC?
Not nearly as strong as it could be. You would think an agency with such an important role would be a high priority for Washington. Yet its budget is just $62 million, one-seventh the size of the Food & Drug Administration’s funding for food safety alone. The CPSC also operates under rules that prohibit staff from publicizing information about product complaints until the manufacturer O.K.’s the release. Besides handing over a lot of control to companies, this process routinely delays public disclosure of hazards, say critics.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, August 27 | 0 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Watch on CNN
Wal-Mart Watch executive director David Nassar appeared Friday on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight to discuss the dangers of imported goods and Wal-Mart’s role in the recent toy recalls.
Click here to read a transcript of the segment.
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, August 27 | 0 comments | Permalink
Friday Blog Round-up: Killer Toys, Killer Dog Treats, and Altering the Internet to Cover It All Up
THE TOYS WILL KILL YOU DON’T GO NEAR THEM AAAAHHH!
In case you haven’t heard, the toys at Wal-Mart could kill your children in several different, painful ways. In response to all the bad PR the company has been getting over this, Wal-Mart announced that it would start trying to make sure its toys are safe.
Walmart To Test 20% More Toys [Consumerist]
According to the Washington Post, Walmart will test 20% more toys in an effort to crack down on toy safety. Nu Wexler from Walmart Watch accused them of missing the point:
“Wal-Mart’s not addressing the larger problem of why Chinese toy suppliers are cutting corners with lead paint and melamine,” spokesman Nu Wexler said, referring to a harmful additive found in pet food made in China. “It’s because they’re under enormous pressure from buyers like Wal-Mart, and they’re sacrificing child safety to keep costs low.”
Jon Stewart discussed the toy recall on the Daily Show, including commentary MSNBC’s less-than-sensitive coverage of the fiasco. Pet Connection discusses:
“Best” part:
I think people should be careful what they wish for. […] If … China is to start making, say, toys that don’t have lead in them, or food that isn’t poisonous, their costs of production are going to go up. And that means prices at Wal-mart here in the United States are going to go up, too. So … I would say China is our greatest friend right now. They’re keeping prices low.Honestly, if you don’t laugh you’ll cry. And of course to be fair I gotta say Erin Burnett was surely slapping her forehead over her own idiocy when she walked off the set. I mean … she couldn’t have really have meant that, could she?
After the jump, what else at Wal-Mart will kill you and your loved ones? If you don’t know, it might be because Wal-Mart’s PR department has been working late this week.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, August 24 | 65 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Worries About Holiday Profits
This story from Reuters explains that Wal-Mart’s recent decision to step up toy testing may have more to do with the Christmas shopping season than children’s safety. As one Wal-Mart spokesperson said, “Reassurance is really our key point.” That is, reassurance and not *actual* safety. If it takes the prospect of a poor holiday sales season to get Wal-Mart to take responsibility for its products, then great. But as long as Wal-Mart focuses solely on profits no matter what the cost, this type of problem will continue to resurface.
Wal-Mart seeks more toy tests before holidays [Reuters]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Thursday it was asking suppliers to resubmit testing documentation for the toys it sells after Mattel Inc’s recall this month of millions of Chinese-made toys.
The world’s largest retailer is also taking other measures to reassure consumers about the safety of its toys ahead of the critical holiday shopping season.
In an e-mailed statement, Wal-Mart also said it hired independent laboratories to conduct an average of 200 additional tests each day. It also said it was working to find new toys and manufacturers from all over the world to give parents greater choice.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, August 24 | 0 comments | Permalink
Safety Steps Not Enough, Says US PIRG
“The toy manufacturers and the department stores have worried too much about price and not enough about quality. So they’re responsible for this mess.”
- Edmund Mierzwinski, U.S. Public Interest Research Group
Amid a fresh spate of toy recalls, members of Congress said Thursday that they would hold hearings about product safety and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. vowed to increase testing and oversight of the playthings it sold.
But neither of those actions will guarantee a trouble-free toy aisle any time soon, according to activists who contend that legislation is needed to mandate stricter standards.
“The government agencies and the quality control operations in the companies that are supposed to prevent these problems are not working,” said Jean Halloran, a food and product safety expert for Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports. “You need to start from the point of view that to a large degree, you’re on your own. You are the one who has to protect yourself and your family.”
In Washington, a House subcommittee requested information from 19 companies responsible for recent recalls of more than 9 million lead-tainted children’s products imported from China.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, August 24 | 0 comments | Permalink
Toy Proposal Does Not Address Roots of Safety Issue
Wal-Mart Watch, which has been pushing for reforms to benefit Wal-Mart workers, said the retailer’s proposals did not go far enough.
“Due to the tremendous pressure that Wal-Mart puts on its suppliers to keep costs low, manufacturers are forced to move production overseas and cut corners on safety,” Wal-Mart Watch Executive Director David Nassar said in a statement.
Wal-Mart seeks more toy tests before holidays [Retuers]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Thursday it was asking suppliers to resubmit testing documentation for the toys it sells after Mattel Inc’s recall this month of millions of Chinese-made toys.
The world’s largest retailer is also taking other measures to reassure consumers about the safety of its toys ahead of the critical holiday shopping season.
In an e-mailed statement, Wal-Mart also said it hired independent laboratories to conduct an average of 200 additional tests each day. It also said it was working to find new toys and manufacturers from all over the world to give parents greater choice.
At the same time, Wal-Mart said it was “ready to help leaders in China who are implementing new testing procedures.”
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, August 24 | 9 comments | Permalink
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