Thomas the Tank Engine Wasn’t Enough?
From the Associated Press: Fisher-Price recalling almost a million toys
Chinese vendor used paint with lead on items meant for preschoolers
WASHINGTON – Toy-maker Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys — including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters — because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead.
The worldwide recall being announced Thursday involves 967,000 plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August. It is the latest in a wave of recalls that has heightened global concern about the safety of Chinese-made products.
If it’s a plastic toy featuring a character on PBS and is made by Fisher-Price, it is probably part of this recall. This is another part of the price paid for outsourcing. Fisher-Price and Mattel have always been fanatics about quality control and it happened to them. There’s a reason things from China are cheap, and the cost of labor is only part of it.
3 comments
[…] (hat-tip Bryan @ Why Now?): WASHINGTON – Toy-maker Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys — including the popular […]
Is China really an ally? a trading partner? Why do they receive MFN status? To what degree is China’s shipping of toxic products, food and toys, really unknown to its government? Forgive me if I flat-out disbelieve such claims.
If I were a parent, I’d want more than a mere recall of toys painted with lead-based paint: I’d want either substantial restrictions on imports, or else actual fines, with proceeds to be spent on related children’s health issues. This cannot simply be ignored.
Mattel needs to look at the real cost of the outsourcing. I think they’ll find that is cheaper to make things in the US. They are a global corporation and the EU is even pickier about this sort of thing.
The Chinese court system is not going to side with Mattel on this, and they may have to absorb the entire cost.