Step up inspections of consumer goods made in China

THE ISSUE Mattel has recalled more than 18 million toys found to be hazardous to children.

AMERICA'S toy industry has been jarred by the biggest recall in the history of Mattel, the world's largest toymaker, but the problem extends far beyond toys manufactured in China. It follows a series of actions ranging from the recall of Chinese-made toothpaste to an "import alert" about seafood imported from China, reverberating through Honolulu's Chinatown. Government and industry pressure is needed to remind China that products must be safe and healthy.

Mattel announced this week that it was recalling 436,000 Chinese-made die-cast toy "Sarge" cars from the animated film "Cars" because they were covered with lead paint, and 18.2 million other toys containing small, powerful magnets that could harm children if swallowed.

More than two-thirds of Mattel's toys are made in China, some in five Mattel-owned factories where it plans to shift more of its toy production. At least two other toy makers have begun to investigate their toys from China this summer, according to Carter Keithley, president of the Toy Industry Association.

Recalls this year of Chinese-made products included contaminated pet food ingredients, children's jewelry, defective tires and toothpaste containing an ingredient used in antifreeze. The concern is that those dangers skim the surface and that the Consumer Product Safety Commission and other agencies need greater authority and resources to protect Americans from such hazards.

Last summer, the Food and Drug administration issued an "import alert" requiring that each shipment of suspect Chinese shrimp, eel and catfish bound for the United States be held by the FDA until it passed a laboratory test. The FDA normally inspects only 1 percent of incoming food products. A review by the Associated Press revealed that 1 million pounds of the suspect seafood made it to U.S. shelves -- equal to the amount of seafood eaten by 66,000 Americans in a year.

"The system is outdated and it doesn't work well," said Carl R. Nielson, who oversaw import inspections at the FDA until he started a consulting firm two years ago. "You can't make the assumption that these would be isolated instances."

Negative reports about Chinese products have caused concern in Chinatown. Johnson Choi, president of the Hong Kong China Hawaii Chamber of Commerce, surveyed at least a dozen Chinatown merchants last month and found that public concern resulted in a 30 percent to 40 percent drop in sales.

"A lot of people come to my store and ask me, 'Are these stuff made in China? If they're made in China, I'm not going to buy,'" said Danny Au of Bo Wah Trading Co., which sells Chinese dry goods and porcelain.

Manufacturing companies such as Mattel and large retailers such as Wal-Mart that are profiting from the low labor costs in China and other countries have a responsibility to ensure their goods are safe.