China says US also to blame for toy safety scares

BEIJING, Aug 27 (Reuters) China today hit back at Mattel after a massive toy recall, saying designers and importers should also take responsibility for product safety, but promised to punish its own manufacturers who flout standards.

The world's largest toymaker, Mattel, recalled more than 18 million Chinese-made toys in mid-August because of hazards from small magnets that can cause injury if swallowed, just two weeks after it recalled 1.5 million toys due to fears over lead paint.

''I myself looked at some of the samples of these problematic toys, and I found that there is a serious problem with the design.

The design is seriously defective,'' Li Changjiang, head of China's General Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, told a news conference.

''In my view, no matter where those toys were sold there would be a recall, because it is highly likely they are dangerous for children.

''While we recognise that Chinese producers should be blamed for those problematic toys, what kind of responsibility should the US designers and the US importers take in this respect?'' Li asked.

China is facing growing global pressure to clean up its manufacturing sector and ensure the quality of its exports after a series of scandals involving products ranging from poisonous pet food ingredients to sub-standard toys and tainted toothpaste.

Li has described the storm surrounding Chinese-made goods as politically motivated and unfair, but he has also called for tougher regulation of manufacturers and warned that failure to improve quality was undermining China's trade strength.

Today, he blamed differing national standards, misleading statistics and lack of communication for some of the product safety scares that have alarmed foreign consumers.

''For some products, the two countries enforce different standards,'' Li said of China and the United States, also citing ''inaccurate statistics''.

But he said the latest Chinese campaign to improve product safety would focus on creating a chain of supervision across the entire production process for both industrial products and food.

Monitoring and inspection of drug manufacturers would also be strengthened, and celebrities banned from endorsing drugs in advertisements, Li said.

He also acknowledged the vast challenge China faces in overseeing its hundreds of thousands of tiny, often family-run producers, a task compounded by lack of communication between myriad government agencies overseeing production and safety standards, and between central and local authorities.

But Li defended the ''made-in-China'' label and said Chinese-made toys in particular were enjoyed the world over.

''In China, about 3 million workers are working in the toy industry, providing toys to children all across the world,'' he said.

''It is because of their hard work that children in other parts of the world are having fun in their daily life.'' REUTERS RN RK1208