More toys recalled and China lays the smackdown on factories
In less than a month Toy R Us has recalled 31,000 toys due to lead contamination. Yesterday, the AP reported the retailer recalled 16,000 Chinese-made Elite Operations toys because of lead contamination, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. On October 4 Toy R US recalled 15,000 Totally Me! Funky Room Decor Sets due to surface paints on the back of the decorating kits’ mirrors containing high levels of lead.
This latest recall included four Elite Operations toy sets: the Command Patrol Center, the Barracuda Helicopter, the Super Rigs set and a three-pack of 8-inch figures. The AP reports that no other Elite Operations toys are included in the recall. The toys were sold at Toys R Us stores and on toysrus.com between July and October.
In other China toy manufacturing news the Chinese government today announced the closing of 700 toy factories. The reports the factories have been banned from exporting anything they produce as part of a four-month-long governmental crackdown on poorly made products. The export bans followed inspections of 1,726 toy factories in the Guangdong province, of which 764 had their export licenses revoked or suspended due to “various quality problems,” the Guangdong provincial government said in a statement posted on its official Web site today. It said another 690 were ordered to renovate their plants and improve product quality.
Read our coverage of the toy recall crisis and the protests and backlash it has caused.
