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Despite problems involving Chinese-made goods sold in the U.S., a Chinese spokesperson says that orders for Christmas toys are “up” and that factories can’t keep up with demand. But he also says, “I urge the importers of Chinese toys to come to China and buy more Chinese toys and I wish children around the world a Merry Christmas,” which makes the claim sound like PR spin. [Reuters]
Investigators from the House Energy and Commerce Committee spent two weeks snooping around China and probably haven’t eaten since. Their investigation revealed a tattered regulatory framework, unable to protect Chinese citizens, let alone foreigners. Among the disturbing facts uncovered:
The Administration envisions a future where science and technology keep our food supply safe and secure. The multi-agency working group tasked with improving food safety has yet to agree on final recommendations, but both interest groups and the Administration seem dead set against new inspectors. Instead, the working group wants to build upon the current system of random inspections to better target potential dangers among the $2.2 trillion worth of goods imported each year.
Palm Bay, Florida is irritated with China. They’re considering a ban that would prevent the city from buying anything made in China…. with a few exceptions:
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Target is recalling 82,000 plush rattle baby toys shaped like baseballs, footballs, and basketballs. The plush toys can break open, according to the CPSC, and release the beads used for filler, and therefore pose a choking hazard. The toys have a tag reading “Reg. No. PA5706(CN), Distributed by Double Nice Co Ltd. 3f-2 No. 325, Wu Chuan Road, Taichung, Taiwan, Made in China.” [CNN Money]
The 425,000 play yards that were recalled yesterday were recalled because of a design flaw that caused the strangulation of a 10-month-old boy.
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“Scammers in China are pretending to be official quality control inspectors so they can take bribes in exchange for overlooking shoddy manufacturing.” [Reuters via The Raw Feed]
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In a gesture to assuage China’s injured pride in advance of an on-site visit by the CEO, Mattel apologized to China for the “design flaws” responsible for most of this summer’s toy recalls. [AP]
Chinese officials charged the Zhang brothers with assembling 160,000 fake Gillette Mach 3 razor blades in their home with the help of other family members (and, we imagine, lots of boxes of Band-Aids). The home was raided over a year ago, but apparently the charges have just been officially announced. Unless, of course, this very announcement is a forgery—or tainted with lead!
Meet Wu Yi. The 68-year old Vice Premier, the highest ranking woman in the Communist Party, has been tasked with one mission: toss the Chinese Poison Train back into the rapidly industrializing nation’s toy-chest.
China’s had such a bad safety record lately that it’s a little surprising to find out their latest plans for health warnings on packs of cigarettes: skulls, blackened teeth, and diseased lungs, covering at least 30% of the pack’s surface area. The move is an attempt to curb the growing market of smokers in the country, where the average age of people who start smoking is as low as 10 in some areas.
Today is a big day for Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL). Starting at 11am, the Chairman of the powerful Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will kick off a series of hearings examining the toy industry’s seemingly magnetic attraction to lead paint. Durbin, whose Subcommittee has jurisdiction over the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s budget, will grill toy industry representatives, consumer advocates, and members of the government over plans to protect America’s children from the dangers silently lurking on toy shelves by establishing an independent testing regime.
Walmart says it has pulled thousands of cheap sandals that had of customers complaining about painful, lingering rashes, WFTV in Florida reports.
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A family in Hainan, China worried that it had a tainted bottle of water on its hands, so it gave the water to a pet chicken; the chicken died “within a minute.” We smell a new export opportunity here for Chinese manufacturers—your very own house chicken to peck out any tainted toys, toothpaste, or pet food. And maybe it can sniff the popcorn, too. Reuters already made a chicken-choking joke, so we’ll pass. [Reuters]
Today begins the Sino-US Consumer Product Safety Summit, “an effort to sooth the black eyes that China and the U.S. are sporting after months of revelations that China is sending tainted products to the U.S. and the federal government has been doing little about it,” writes Dennis Rockstroh on his San Jose Mercury News blog.
We’re sure that Washington D.C. meant well when it started giving away free condoms in order to help stop the spread of H.I.V. in the US city with the highest AIDS rate. One problem: The condoms suck.
Walmart share price falls after Merril-Lynch downgrades stocks to “sell” from “neutral.” In a note to clients, a Merril analyst cited shrinking profit margins as a concern for the retailer. This would be the first time in 2007 the stock has been marked as sell.
Eighty-five percent of the roughly 20 mln toys that Mattel recalled were due to design faults, Li, the director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, told reporters.
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