Toy safety crisis as Mattel recalls againPress Association25 October 2007
Another toy safety scare triggered renewed European Commission promises of a crackdown before Christmas this afternoon.


DANGEROUS: The Mattel rescue boat.
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The pledge from Brussels came after American toy manufacturer Mattel announced its fourth recall in three months of suspect toys - this time a batch of 55,000 Fisher-Price 'animal rescue boats' in the Go Diego Go range.
About 10,400 of the batch, containing excessive levels of lead paint, have been sold in the UK and 1,600 in Ireland. The rest were sold in America and Canada.
EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, who has been holding talks with Mattel chiefs following previous recalls involvingms of toys, mostly made in China, said the latest problem would now be considered in a report she is preparing on the state of toy safety measures in place in the EU.
'I will present the full stocktaking results in November but my central message is already very clear - to face up to the emerging challenges of managing global supply chains, several key actors are going to have to significantly raise their game.' She insisted.
'My starting point is that dangerous goods should not be able to pass unchecked through all the supply chain to reach shop floors or be sold to parents for children's use at home. There is more work to be done to step up controls.'
Ms Kuneva praised Mattel's decision to warn Brussels national authorities in advance of the latest recall as 'a step in the right direction'.She would be presenting her recommendations for tightening existing measures to a meeting of EU ministers in Brussels on November 22.
Her review began at the end of August, involving talks with national EU authorities, the Chinese and American authorities, the European toy industry and retailers. After earlier recalls Euro-MPs last month demand new toy safety laws including a new stamp as a guarantee for safety for children.
Most toys already carry Europe's 'CE' certification symbol - which is often wrongly believed by parents to be a guarantee of product safety.
Instead the mark indicates conformity with a basic set of EU laws, but not necessarily to one Europe-wide standard for heath and safety.
And it is left to toy producers or an 'authorised representative' to apply the mark themselves, opening the system to possible abuse.
Labour MEP Arlene McCarthy said: 'In the run up to Christmas toy sales we need to make sure the toys in Christmas stockings and under the tree are safe.'
'We don't want to spread panic buying by parents. 90% of our toys are from China, so it is inevitable that we will have more problems with Chinese toys than any other.
'However, we do have a responsibility to ensure that the toys our children are playing with are safe and present no danger to our children's health.'
The EU's current rapid alert system for dangerous products shows that 48% of alerts involve products made in China, of which 25% are toys.
Other stories: Woolies warns of Xmas toy shortage Alert over poison in clothes from China Toy recall threat to Christmas sales Is your Mattel toy being recalled? Mattel recalls millions of toys in UK Full list of the toys being recalled
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