China rips Mattel over toy recall; questions safety of U.S. soybeans

AUDRA ANG

Associated Press

August 23, 2007

BEIJING -- China, on the defensive over the safety of its products, lashed out yesterday at the U.S. by claiming its soybean exports contained pesticides, poisonous weeds and dirt, and blaming American manufacturer Mattel Inc. in part for lead tainting that prompted the recall of millions of toys.

China is facing a global backlash following discoveries of high levels of chemicals and toxins in a range of Chinese exports from toothpaste and seafood to pet food ingredients and toys.

Beijing has tried to defend its safety record and reassure consumers by highlighting similar problems in other countries.

"Numerous quality problems" have been found with American soybeans, China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a notice posted yesterday on its website.

One batch of beans in February was found to contain red beans and pesticides that constituted a "great potential hazard to the food safety of Chinese consumers," it said.

Soybeans, which are mainly crushed for oil and used as animal feed, are the biggest single U.S. farm export to China, according to the American Soybean Association.

The accusations against the U.S. come as a growing number of countries are rejecting or recalling Chinese exports.

In the latest development, a distributor announced a recall in Australia and New Zealand of Chinese-made blankets found to contain high levels of formaldehyde, a potentially cancer-causing chemical preservative that gives a permanent-press effect to clothes.

Earlier this month, El Segundo, Calif.-based Mattel recalled 19 million Chinese-made items, including dolls, cars and action figures. Some were contaminated with lead paint. Others had small magnets that children might swallow. Two weeks before that announcement, 967,000 Chinese-made plastic preschool toys from Mattel's Fisher-Price unit were recalled because of possible lead-paint hazards.

In an interview published yesterday, Li Zhuoming, executive vice-chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Toy Industry Association, said Chinese manufacturers and American toy giant Mattel are both responsible for the recalls.

Blame "cannot be pushed to either side," said Mr. Li, whose government-backed association is in the southern province of Guangdong, the centre of China's vast toy export manufacturing industry.

The region's exporters stand to lose billions of dollars from cancelled orders if consumer confidence continues to decline. Sesame Street and Barbie products made in the province were among those recalled.

"The producers are responsible because they do not have tight controls over purchasing and production," Mr. Li was quoted as saying in the state-run Guangzhou Daily newspaper. "But the buyer Mattel cannot evade responsibility."

Mattel said yesterday it was trying to improve its product safeguards.

"Safety of children is of the utmost importance to Mattel. We have been working around the clock to improve our system and have already instituted changes in our required procedures," the company said.

Mr. Li said profit margins in China's toy industry are low and "it's hard to make money" because of the cost of labour and materials. He warned that foreign companies run the risk of getting shoddy products if they demand too low a price from Chinese manufacturers.

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