[size=20pt]Fisher-Price to recall toys in Australia[/size]
2nd August 2007, 9:32 WST
Toymaker Fisher-Price will make an announcement on the Australian recall of almost 100 toys because their paint contains high levels of lead.
The recall involves plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor.
The American arm of Fisher-Price, a subsidiary of Mattel, has announced it is recalling 83 types of toys - including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters worldwide.
A spokeswoman for Mattel told AAP a detailed announcement on the Australian recall was expected on Friday.
The Australian arm would take part in the recall, the spokeswoman said.
Fisher-Price in the United States issued a warning to parents that they should keep suspect toys away from children and contact the company if concerned.
The worldwide recall being announced on Thursday involves 967,000 plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August.
It is the latest in a wave of recalls that has heightened global concern about the safety of Chinese-made products.
The recall is the first for Fisher-Price Inc and parent company Mattel Inc involving lead paint. It is the largest for Mattel since 1998 when Fisher-Price had to yank about 10 million Power Wheels from toy stores.
David Allmark, general manager of Fisher-Price, said the problem was detected by an internal probe and reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Fisher-Price and the commission issued statements saying parents should keep suspect toys away from children and contact the company.
The commission works with companies to issue recalls when it finds consumer goods that can be harmful. Under current regulations, children's products found to have more than .06 per cent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.
Allmark says the recall was "fast-tracked", which allowed the company to quarantine two-thirds of the toys before they even made it to store shelves.
In negotiating details of the recall, Fisher-Price and the government agreed to withhold details from the public until Thursday to give stores time to get suspect toys off shelves and Fisher-Price time to get its recall hot line up and running.
Allmark said the recall was troubling because Fisher-Price has had a long-standing relationship with the Chinese vendor, which had applied decorative paint to the toys.
Allmark said the company would use this recall as an opportunity to put even better systems in place to monitor vendors whose conduct does not meet Mattel's standards.
He added: "We are still concluding the investigation, how it happened. ... But there will be a dramatic investigation on how this happened. We will learn from this."
The recall follows another high-profile move from toy maker RC2 Corp, which in June voluntarily recalled 1.5 million wooden railroad toys and set parts from its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line.
The company said that the surface paint on certain toys and parts made in China between January 2005 and April 2006 contain lead, affecting 26 components and 23 retailers.
"Anytime a company brings a banned hazardous product into the US marketplace, especially one intended for children, it is unacceptable," said Nancy Nord, acting chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
"Ensuring that Chinese-made toys are safe for US consumers is one of my highest priorities and is the subject of vital talks currently in place between CPSC and the Chinese government."
