More than 80 per cent of the world's toys are manufactured in China, and many are from small producers that are resistant to regulation.
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Target employee Bruce Noll adjusts safety recall notices on a bulletin board at a Target store in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007. (AP / Steve Helber)
'It does hurt the made-in-China label in the short term, definitely,' says journalist James McGregor, author of One Billion Customers.
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China's problems with lead go beyond toys
Updated Wed. Aug. 15 2007 10:12 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Chinese-made vinyl baby bibs should be pulled from store shelves because they may contain too much lead paint, an environmental group said Wednesday, in the latest allegation of shoddy manufacturing to hit the country.
The bibs, sold in Toys "R" Us stores in the U.S., have amounts of lead up to four times what the Environmental Protection Agency allows in paint, claimed the California-based Center for Environmental Health.
Toys "R" Us said earlier tests concluded the bibs had acceptable limits of lead, but is now testing the products again.
The environmental group bought four bibs in the San Francisco Bay-area and tested them at a private lab.
Earlier this week, Mattel Inc., the largest U.S. toy company, recalled millions more Chinese-made toys on Tuesday due to safety risks from lead paint and warned it may recall additional products as it steps up testing.
More than 80 per cent of the world's toys are manufactured in China, and many are from small producers that are resistant to regulation. They make cheap plastic, metal and wooden toys that often have a lead content well above internationally accepted limits and even above limits set by the Chinese government.
Lead is often added to paint to make colours brighter. But it's also well known to cause damage to the nervous and reproductive systems and lead to brain damage and birth defects.
China has joined developed countries in tightening controls on lead, but the rules are difficult to enforce in a society with a thriving underground industry producing substandard goods. And low-level authorities often are reluctant to force changes that might hurt local companies.
With the recent recall of Chinese-made toothpaste, pet foods and tires, the country is gaining a reputation for goods that are shoddy and hazardous.
"It does hurt the made-in-China label in the short term, definitely," says journalist James McGregor, author of One Billion Customers.
"Whether it hurts the made-in-China label in the long term is up to China and cleaning up their act and being transparent."
But the authoritarian-run Chinese government is not known for its transparency, and on state television, there has not been a mention of one of the world's largest toy recalls.
For Chinese parents, worries about lead competes with worries about the many other toxins in the heavily polluted country. While the country has phased out leaded gasoline, house paint, old pipes and buildings and factories are still big sources of lead and poisonings are frequent.
Last year, 877 villagers near a lead smelter in the northwest's Gansu province, including 334 children under 14, suffered lead poisoning, according to state media. The smelter's owners later admitted they ran it at night with its pollution-control gear turned off to save money, news reports said.
A study of 5,000 children in Dongguan, a boomtown near Hong Kong, found that 22.1 per cent had lead in their blood in excess of safe levels, according to the newspaper Yangcheng Evening News.
Still, analysts say the blame doesn't lie only with Chinese manufacturers. They point to major foreign buyers that are demanding lower and lower prices, forcing Chinese factories to cut corners.
China is undergoing its industrial revolution, and that means many regulatory bodies are simply not yet up to standard or even non-existent. They are receiving help from the American FDA and European Union to build such regulations, but it will take time.
At the same time, factory owners are having to increase wages due to a labour shortage spurred by China's one-child policy.
"If they were transparent about the pressure their factory owners are under to cut prices, if they're transparent about how they have a lot of poor people, and how this is a developing country that is just getting its regulatory system together, people would be sympathetic," believes McGregor.
How quickly the made-in-China label recovers depends in large part on China's honesty with the world. But with the Olympics less than a year away, the image-conscious nation may find it hard to admit its weaknesses.
With a report from Steve Chao, CTV Beijing Bureau Chief
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Add Comments(53)
Ronald HonIt is not fair to blame only the Chinese manufacturers but not the toy companies. To manufacture a product, the manufacturer must follow a pile of detail specs providing from the buyer. The specs should include the product design, the dimensions of each individual part, and the materials uses. Also they should have quality control on each procedure. For big companies or importers, they practice to assign own associates for quality controls and hire third parties for final checks before shipping and releasing products into the market. It is reasonable to believe the current safety and materials issues from Chinese products involve improper product designs and ineffective quality controls where the toy companies should hold responsible for their negligence.
Brian FowlerWhy doesn't China outsource this manufacturing to another country that doesn't use lead paint?
CraigI miss the days when everything said "Made in Japan".
ChrisWhatever happened to the "Buy Made In Canada" campaign of the 80s and early 90s? I remember when Wal-Mart was heavily criticized for marketing largely American-made products in their Canadian outlets. Those days were a paradise to the times we live in now. And guess what: it's going to get worse. Parents, buy Canadian, American or European toys for your children, or better yet, MAKE YOUR OWN!
Buster BrownAlthough cheap Chinese consumer items are a bargain at the till they are not worth the loss of jobs to the Americas, the pollution and the many other environmental hazards that are ignored just to produce a cheaper product.
Carlo AThis is merely a symptom of Western corporate buying practices. Where buyers are hammered by their superiors to find the cheapest price, while due dilligence is not recognized. There's never money to buy from the right supplier, but lots of money to fix a wrong supplier.
TomMakes one wonder how long this has been going on. Years and years of toys etc flooding into the US and Canada from China without the checks and testing that is 'supposedly' going on now. This will not be better as the Chinese gov't at the end of the day doesn't really care about the problem and the country is too huge and too much manufacturing is going to police all of it. Too bad US companies like walmart are just as bad as the Chinese in their cut-throat mentality, ensuring that the problems are so entranched they will never be solved by the 'officials'. Best solution is as Chris said. If it says 'Made in China', don't buy it no matter what it is.
JamesThis is what happens when people forget about safety and it becomes all about cheap, and lots of it. We are such a superficial society that we have forgotten about the basics.
We deserve it.
Richard BradleyOne might also note that not a single item produced so cheaply in China has brought about a reduction at the retail level here. Are huge CEO payoffs the only thing that matters?
I really don't care to increase my lead intake to improve their gold assets.
William E. WilsonCheap goods like this continue to prove the saying "You get what you pay for."
CarlWhat ever happened to the much loved label "Made in USA", which was so craved for the world over ?
jerry I am surprised that no one is laying the blame where it belongs, on Mattel, the distributor. Mattel is signing purchasing contracts which defines the manufacturing deal. It is their accountability as they are the ones profiting from this. Don’t try and lay the blame on the poor workers who are being exposed to this poison daily.
If Mattel did what they should and employ enough staff members than we would not be having this discussion. It is their responsibility and only theirs to ensure all of their products are meeting all the Canadian standrads.
GrenvilleOne acronym...ISO
Unless ISO standards are met with the manufacture of goods any component part of said goods then the product should not be allowed to be sold in Canada.
It's really quite simple. All manufactured goods that we import should meet ISO standards with no exceptions.
We should also have an ISO for Health and Safety. Foreign companies shuld have to comply with/to the same regulations that domestic manufacurers are required...
My 2 cents
Diego.GarciaLead paint in kids toys is clearly bad but this all seems to be part of an orchestrated smear campaign by the U.S. against China in order to get them to revalue the Yuan. The concerns about the quality of Chinese products is the same as the concerns about the quality of Japanese products in the 1980s. Then it was was to motivate Japan to revaule their currency and lower the trade imbalance between Japan and the U.S. (and others). It led to the signing of the Plaza Accord by the G5. Japan doubled the value of its currency and put itself into a recession that it has still not come out of.
Pat S.Cheaper good = cheaper prices. But the big picture is bigger profit$ for corporation$. They'll continue to use China as prices are cheaper, and they make more $$$. All corporations go for is big bucks in the first place...
GraceConsumers are the source of evil! We should not have been greedy, wanting more things all the time.
NPSomeday China will be too expensive to do business with. Corporate greed and shortsighted consumers, will have to pick on another emerging economy, for cheap labour and substarndard items.
Wait. This article mentioned shortage of labour. Wages going up.
That evil equation again. SUPPLY AND DEMAND. The end is nigh.
MichealIt's very easy to say something, but it's very hard to do. Have you ever try not to buy Chinese products? How many items produced in China are there in your home and you are useing them dayly? I would tell you that no metter how poisoning or dangerous their products are, you are still going to buy them. Today is the day that you could not live without "Made in China."
John DoeAs mean as this sounds, the Chinese have known of these problems for years. In China the people try to buy products not made in China as they know of the poor quality control.
For this problem to stop there is only one solution on an individual level. Look at the products you buy and if they say made in China then look for products made elsewhere.
CrisISO is good in theory but in a society where there are no real concerns about self-regulation, ISO will not work. This is the third product line coming from China that has served notice about their poor manufacturing standards. What other risks are we exposed to because importers are sacrificing quality for profit.
Zhi YuThese toys are not available in the Chinese market!!! they are made for Mattel, why Mattel didn't check the lead level 5 years ago? Why these toys got imported in Canada without notice?
Wilf KRe Brian Fowler's question about out-sourcing: Why would they, when they can (at the moment, anyway) undercut most Western manufacturers? They can make items at vastly lower prices, and western companies are gobbling them up.
J. GrandaWhat about the purchasing practices of North American corporations? Prices are forced so low that businesses overseas are left scrambling to make a profit. This often results in poor working conditions for employees and lower product standards. The underlying issues are greed and our ongoing desire for the lowest price as a consumer.
TracI RoseThe other things we need to consider are all the plastics bags and packaging which are also being purchased at an increased rate. They have a lot of printed messages on them, some are completely printed over the entire surface. Bags have already been tested in the US. Some of the States have already banned
them being brought in. They were found to contain lead and Heavy Metals.
Thank you
SueI have definitely changed my buying habits and will continue to.
SheldonSupply and demand drives our market place. We are the problem not China. We keep buying cheaper products without knowing the overall cost. We have been outsourcing manufacturing for years. Our jobs have been sent to the third world and we support it by buying cheap products. Big business is only feeding our demand, don't blame them. Start supporting Made in USA and Canada. We simply have better quality but it wil cost more but you will have a job to pay for it.
PatrickStop using the products "Made in China"?!!! Unfortunately, China does not make just cheap toys and clothes, as it did several year ago. Check your computer, you will find most of parts are from China. We already could not live without products from China. Who push china in this place? Those western international corporations.
Ross CliveUSA have a huge trade imbalance with China...therefore attack...take a swipe at its product...critique its quality...anything to balance trade.
Remember the lumber dispute, another example of trade imbalance. Then there's the beef! Our neighbors to the south constantly repeat this tactic why should we be surprised?
SkyeIf I remember correctly didn't we used to have a BUY CANADIAN MADE promotion which would create and keep Canadians working and be a boost to our economy? This would benefit so many in so many ways if we all supported our own people working - and maybe at the same time get some off the welfare system - this would be done by suppling full time work for a living wage.
FelixTextiles, Furnitures,Toys, the list will grow!! when will this unfair practices stop!! so we can compete with China and offer a better and safe product
jsmommyIt's really sad that I no longer feel safe buying toys for my child that are supposed to make his little eyes light up. What are we supposed to do?
Wayne UnderhillHere we go with our usual head in the sand approach again. When it comes to goods from China the main impetous is greed. We have become a nation of consumers not manufacturers and we have given over control of what comes into the country to vested interests. We don't have enough inspectors to apprehend deficient products before they reach the marketplace. As a result it is only after problems arise that we are alerted to them. To think that we can exercise any control over production in China itself is a fairy tale. The only message the chinese will get is if under strict inspection we start holding their shipments up at the ports. Nothing will change if we don't start now. Toughen up the inspection process..the laws are there..enforce them.. If it costs the producer and the fat cat Canadian distributors money this kind of nonsense will stop. Until then it will be dirty business as usual. Thank goodness that the chinese have the biggest zipper plant in the world{Canada doesn't have one] because they are being caught with their pants down.
AlainIt is really pathetic by saying "stopping buying stuff from China" or only blame chinese supplier. Mattel has the main responsiblity to control their QC issues. The toys have lead paint, that obviously shows Mattel didnt have any strick Quality control process...
"Stop buysing chinese products" -- This is really most ridiculous thing that i have ever heard.
Further more, every country every goods they could have some Quality issues. This could happend to " Made in Japan" or "Made in USA", or "Made in Canada" Stop blaming China so easily.
:)
Tom WYour article makes a couple of errors. First, there is no labour shortage in China. In fact there is an unbelievable labour surplus in the hundreds of millions of people, as the Chinese government continues to force peasant farmers off of their tiny rice patty farms into the cities, under a massive urbanization program. The Chinese government plans to move at least 300 million peasants into the cities to work in factories over the next 10 years.
Second, due to the labour surplus in China and a host of other factors, wages are not increasing. Most Chinese factory workers earn under $1 an hour – and that is if they are even lucky enough to get paid. Many workers are actually slave labourers. Let us not forget, also, that these Chinese manufacturers have the lowest costs of any producers in the world. Aside from the fact that they don’t have to invest in R&D because they are constantly infringing on the patents of western manufacturers, they don’t have to pay for their land, they pay no property taxes, they are not required to invest in safe working conditions for their employees, and they receive all the loans they need from state-run banks that issue these loans interest-free with the understanding that they never have to be repaid.
Then there are the western corporations who are falling all over themselves to produce their products in China so that they can take advantage of these abhorrent conditions to increase their profits. They couldn’t get away with doing in the West, what their business partners do in China, but by dealing with Chinese companies, they get all the benefits that their foreign partners-in-crime provide them with. Western corporations are getting around decades of legislation that was meant to protect the safety & welfare of employees and customers by slipping behind the Chinese border. Western corporate executives are, effectively, engaging in amoral and criminal conspiracies with Chinese manufacturers since they know full well what is going on in China. In the process, they are depriving Western citizens of jobs. It is high time we started indicting them for their unconscionable acts. We need new legislation and we need it soon.
As for Mattel, they get what they deserve. If they don’t want to have these problems, then they should bloody well bring the jobs back to North America where quality products are made under safe working conditions. I don’t care about their business problems. We made them the giant they are but their greed has taken them far ashore.
Screw you Mattel.
ioleChina is now getting expensive now for doing business, ie: labour. Notice China's standard of living is getting up to our level. It will soon be Vietnam and or South Asia. Then again we are forwarned by some regulators that even more corners will be cut by Vietnam. Cheaper labour. Companies will go where cheaper labour are.
Bill RosmusInteresting that we see so many people blaming Mattel and the U.S. for Chinese companies breaking Chinese laws against using lead in things. It is profiteering Chinese companies outsourcing the painting because it is cheaper when the manufacturing requirements from Mattel told the company to use in house resources which Mattel knew would use the appropriate paint. Also, why does the rest of the world know that lead is bad to use in paint that will be used on items used by children, and China somehow 'missed the memo'? The Chinese companies are entirely to blame.
Lynda JugeDefinitely I agree, not to just blame China for the problem, but it's the toy companies that should have followed the safety standards.
Jim L.With all the issues related to food and products from China, we've decided to no longer expose our household to the risks. We will be leaving Chinese goods on the store shelves.
Sammy SmithHow quickly we point fingers and see the evils on "the other side of the fence". If you believe such corners are never cut in Canada and America you are deluding yourselves. How many automobiles (I don't need to mention the manufacturer do I?) "made in the USA" have been recalled this year due to potentially deadly "cut corners"? How many millions was that? Ho many peoples lives were put at risk to increase profit for corporate CEO's?
And as many here have already mentioned, it is the western world mass consumer demands for cheaper products and services which drives such cut backs. For those of you who say you should not buy anything "Made in China" have fun with your maple syrup and local made TyeDye hippy teeshirts.... Oh wait, the teeshirts and ink come from China too.... I guess that just leaves maple syrup.....
Perhaps people should look at the REAL root of the problem, such as big companies like McDonalds and Starbucks, who are wildly profitable, who pay their Chinese employees even less than the Chinese minimum wage, slave wages even for this economy...
Too easy to see the speck in someone elses eye and forget about the plank in our own.
Bob FoxAnd we worry about Canadian emissions that are destroying the environment....
Wake up Canada...
The real threat to the environment and our way of life is the 3rd world!!!!
Bob Fox
MEI have been living in China for the last 4 years and this is nothing new to me.
To be honest, the similarities between US and Chinese business, and social, practices are astounding.
Yes, Mattel should have been keeping a better eye on the manufacturing process, but when you outsource something you generally think you shouldn't have to babysit until the project is complete.
Chinese manufacturers will cut corners to make their own profits; and with nearly every country in the world looking to China for their production needs... well let's put it this way - if they don't have enough police power to handle petty crime, how in the world do you expect them to be able to police large factories?
There are far too many easily corrupted government officials, who see the almighty buck as clearly as top COOs in developed countries such as the States.
The bottom line is, when you are dealing with a country so vastly different in EVERY way imagineable, do your homework before catching the boat to profit.
And did it ever occur to you that on Made in Canada/America/Japan products, that it was just the label that was made there!?
Kevin C. ChenWe cannot expect quality products when anyone can buy just a bulk or two at the Dollar store. As in the past, Made in Japan products were the best and expensive. Unfortunitely, companies are greed with profits that they want cheap labor from China. As a result, things turn ugly with lead poisoning in toys, contaminated seafoods, and many other cases. Not only that, we are still willing to pay for cheap products. As China continues to produce cheap products, global warming continues to excellerate.
Canada should take this opportunity and promote Made in Canada! Companies should move their manufacturing plants back to Canada. By doing so, Canadians can have more job opportunities rather than outsourcing employment. If we want safer toys, quality products and no contaminated toothpaste, we should promote and buy Made in Canada products even though it may cause more. Let us not to forget, quality products do last longer than cheap ones as we will not dispose them out that quickly.
G.S.FrazerWas it not China that Menu Foods Pet Food disaster originated?
duffIn the western world the foremost concern of most people is...FAMILY....in China the foremost concern of most people is...FOOD....while cancer is a leading killer in North America, the biggest killer in China is by far food poisoning....it seems rather incredible that a 60 yr old communist bureaucracy would have so little control over its EXPORTS to western nations, not to mention its ability to secure its own food chain and feed its people
Roger TNot to take sides but why doesn't CTV cover the Ford 3.6 Million vehicles recall? Shouldn't this be BIG news as it's even more dangerous and the impact is much bigger? I've never trusted an American made car as the quality is shabby compare to the Japanese cars. Now, let us more on with the toy stories and uncover the FORD RECALLS on their vehicles.
N.S.I've been trying to buy Made in Canada - Good Luck!
It's time we Canadians start asking were things are made, and what's in it. Just because it's made in a developed country doesn't mean it's any safer than if it's made in China. The big companies - like Mattel - will try to do anything for the big buck (why else are they manufacturing in third world countries?)- at the expense of consumers. We perhaps deserve what is happening to us because we,Canadians, want material things, but we don't want to spend the money - so we shop at Dollar Stores and Wal-Marts/Zellers etc. The Chinese are somewhat to blame, but we of the developed countries have to start protesting against the big companies who market things for our consumption - whether it be toys, toothpaste dog food from China, but also drugs and pesticides in our food -which our own farmers use.
We need to stop pointing fingers and change our ways so these things don't happen again. Hopefully our kids will survive everything they are bombarded with and be healthy to grow old.
FED UPThis is just getting ridiculous and how media is able to make the situation more askew than ever. First of all, STOP BLAMING CHINA--for those of you who believe that they're manufacturing cheap products with cheap materials here's why:
1. WE WANT "LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEED"
2. LARGE CORPORATIONS ARE ONLY WILLING TO PAY THE LOWEST PRICE
3. WITH THE LITTLE MONEY CORPORATIONS PAY CHINESE MANUFACTURERS, CHINESE MUST USE CHEAPER MATERIALS
If you want to boycott your "Made in China" products, it's ridiculous because you'll complain later that everything is too expensive!
I'm also peeved by those people who say that China is inhumane to their own people and therefore put lead in paint to screw over the rest of the world, etc. First off the bat, CHINA MAKES THESE PRODUCTS IN SWEATSHOPS OWNED BY NONE OTHER THAN AMERICAN COMPANIES. Seriously, who's inhumane now? Maybe if companies actually paid them the proper amount for the work necessary, it'd get done properly.
Now let's take a look at what's being pulled off the market for callbacks.. POLLY POCKET, VINYL BIBS, TOY CARS... I'm sorry, but when I was a kid 20 years ago, they had these toys and so why didn't they call them back then? It's because after all these years the American Corporations finally go into debt, and the slowly hard earned cash that the Chinese received for doing their manufacturing for the past 20-30 has actually grown. THE AMERICANS WANT THE MONEY THAT THEY GAVE AWAY BACK.
And for all of the people who accuse China of being an awful nation that kills their own people... MAYBE THIRTY YEARS AGO. If I wanted to blame every country for their history and cease business, there wouldn't be ANY market for anything! Why not stop trade with Japan? They're awful people who won't admit they killed the Chinese/Koreans/Viets. Why not stop trade with the French? They started wars against us! What about those darned Americans? They had a Civil War and killed each other too!! OH MY GOD, EVERYONE'S KILLING EACH OTHER. NO ONE SHOULD BUY ANYTHING ANYMORE.
GROW UP CANADA. Get your facts straight before any nonsense comes out of your mouth.
JayAll you have to do is remember back to that story earlier in the summer about a slave sweat shop for brick making in China and it will give you an idea of what type of manufacturing takes place in that country. As for the companies here in north America who outsource to China they are guilty for turning a blind eye in the name of keeping costs low and profits high. Scary to think European aircraft maker Airbus will open up a aircraft line in China. Let's go back to made in Japan a country that knows high standards.
Geraldine ThompsonGenerations of citizens spent years lobbying North American manufactures to make the products we use safe. Now,these very same companies are outsourcing , to a Country that does not have the same laws and regulations. Consumers need to make their voice heard.
tonyLook beyond the "Made In China" label: it's also the fault of those greedy corporations. We live in a hyperactive global market with a gluttonous demand, more than ever. The Barbies, Tickle-Me-Elmos, and the Beanie Babies craze helped paved this way in the toy industry.
GabrielSo here (on CTV comments), the peasants grumble, and when they are done, they go back to work without doing anything about it.
Was the Snickers that satisfying?
Cathy BoudreauI remember my mother checking the labels on everything for "Made in Canada". Maybe we need to do that now more than ever. From personal experience I know that it is nearly impossible to buy Canadian when shopping for clothing and footwear. How did that happen?
R ColeKind of ironic isn’t it; we get all pissy about China endangering our children with toys that are made with lead paint in them. And yet we continue to buy products from countries using child labor to produce these toys.
Come on People it’s NOT, Toy’s are Us, Wal-Mart, Mattel or China.
It’s US!!!
WE buy the toys for our children; WE support the child labor to build those toys!!!
So unless you really believe that our kids are more important than their kids.
Stop bitching and fix the problem.
Buy Canadian!!!
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