Edwards demands safety tests for Mattel toys

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards called on President Bush to have safety inspectors test all Mattel Inc. product lines for lead paint after the company on Tuesday night announced another recall of toys manufactured in China.

Edwards said such voluntary recalls could no longer be relied upon, and charged Mattel with losing control of the quality of the millions of toys it produces in China.

{mosads}“President Bush must order Consumer Product Safety Commission inspectors to Mattel’s warehouses and collect samples of its full product lines and test each and every one of them for lead paint,” he said.

Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) also issued a statement on the recall. She proposed an immediate halt to sales of paint-coated toys from China that have not been independently tested by third parties.

The recall system should also be improved, penalties should be stiffened and investigators and inspectors reinforced, according to Clinton.

Mattel announced it was recalling 11 different lines of toys manufactured in China due to excessive levels of lead paint, including eight pet and furniture playsets sold under the Barbie brand. The recall did not include any Barbie dolls. In total, the recall affected 530,000 toys in the U.S.  

A Mattel contract vendor subcontracted the painting of miniature toy pets and small furniture pieces to two Chinese companies that used uncertified paint, the company said in a statement. It also pointed out that the two companies were no longer producing toys for Mattel.

In August, Mattel recalled several figures and toys sold under the Fisher-Price label that were also manufactured in China with excessive lead paint.

The latest recalls could increase momentum in Congress for legislation.

“When ‘Made in China’ becomes a warning label, something’s very wrong,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) stated in response to Mattel’s announcement. Brown is one of several senators planning legislation related to a score of recalls of products made in China.

In the House, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), who chairs a Commerce subcommittee on trade and consumer protection, is planning hearings on how to address the problem of imports of children’s toys from China that contain excessive lead. On Aug. 22, Rush and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) sent letters to 19 companies, including Mattel, requesting information that they said could be useful in writing legislation. An aide said Mattel would be invited to appear at the hearing.