October 16th 2007

BEIJING:China has sponsored quality-control training for more than 1,000 people in the country's toy industry in an effort to ensure the safety of exports, state media said Sunday.

 

Government officials and executives from transnational companies gave lectures on Chinese, American, and European certification and testing standards and regulations, Xinhua press agency said.

The two-day sessions in the southern province of Guangdong also addressed lead levels and design flaws, which have been at the center of massive toy recalls around the world, it said.

The sessions, which began Thursday, were attended by toy makers from Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong and Hong Kong, where most of the country's toys are produced.

China's toy industry has been under intense scrutiny since Mattel, the U.S. toy giant, ordered three high-profile recalls this summer involving more than 21 million Chinese-made products.

 

The recalls were part of larger worldwide worries about the quality of Chinese goods in recent months after potentially dangerous toxins and chemicals were found in exports ranging from toothpaste to fish.

Beijing insists that the vast majority of its exports are safe, but it has stepped up inspections of food, drugs and other products in response to the concerns.

The toys pulled off shelves in the Mattel recall included Barbie doll accessories and toy cars because of concerns about lead paint or tiny magnets that could be swallowed.

While hundreds of thousands of the toys were decorated with lead paint, Mattel also acknowledged design flaws and apologized.

At the Chinese training session, officials from the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine urged toy manufacturers to tighten quality control and develop their own brands, Xinhua said.

China is the world's largest toy manufacturer, exporting 22 billion toys last year, about 60 percent of the world's total.

 

Source: www.iht.com (International Herald Tribune)