Toying With Our Kids

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported today on the third toy recall issued by Mattel Inc. of Chinese-made toys with excessive amounts of lead paint over a period of about the last month (this excerpt provides more information)…

The recall covers 675,000 units of various Barbie accessory toys that were manufactured between Sept. 30, 2006, and Aug. 20, 2007. The action also involves 90,000 units of Geo Trax Locomotive Toys and 8,900 Big Big World 6-in-1 Bongo Band toys, both from the company's Fisher-Price Inc. brand. The Big Big World products were sold at retailers nationwide from July through August this year, while the Geo Trax toys were sold from September 2006 through August.

And this New York Times editorial today takes note of the endemic problems within the Consumer Products Safety Commission (threadbare budget, not enough staff to do the job – one employee to test defective toys; one! – a “fox running the hen house”…this is a Bushco recording), as well as Mattel’s arrogance in deciding not to report product defects because it thought the reporting rules were “unreasonable” (an excerpt follows)…

The (commission), which requires companies to report potential hazards within 24 hours of their discovery, has fined Mattel twice for such delays since 2001: once because it waited about two years before reporting a fire hazard in its Power Wheels motorized minicars and on another occasion because it took months to report loose screws on its Little People Animal Sounds Farm.

The commission is now investigating Mattel’s recent handling of toys containing tiny magnets that, if swallowed, could puncture a toddler’s stomach lining. Though the company recalled 2 million Polly Pocket figurines with these magnets last November, it wasn’t until August that it recalled another 18 million toys that were also studded with the magnets.

Mattel’s excuse — that it needs time to analyze reports of possible hazards before telling the authorities — is arrogant and dangerous. And Mattel’s unapologetic willingness to defy the regulators leaves no doubt that the nation’s battered regulatory apparatus is not up to the task of protecting American consumers.

The commission’s puny fines, capped at less than $2 million, are clearly no deterrent against flouting its rules and should be raised. But rather than tightening consumer protections, the Bush administration seems happy to let the agency decline. Under this White House’s tutelage, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has promoted voluntary compliance over safety mandates. Bush appointees have also coddled manufacturers in other ways — for instance, by allowing companies not to report hazards involving their products if the risk of injury is considered to be obvious or predictable, or if misuse played a role.

(I'd love to hear this administration's definition of "obvious," "predictable," and "misuse," by the way.)

This takes you to an article from the International Herald Tribune about the circumstances behind the similar recall of the Thomas The Tank Engine toys carrying the HIT Entertainment “brand,” though the toys themselves were manufactured in China by a company called RC2.

HIT is an English company that holds the rights to a number of popular characters, including Barney and Bob the Builder, and then licenses the toy manufacturing to companies like RC2.

Except for a small link on the Thomas Web site to RC2's recall announcement, HIT has otherwise acted as if it has nothing to do with the situation. Its executives haven't even said that they regret having been promoting toys with lead paint in them. They haven't said anything publicly.

When I suggested to the company's public relations agency, Bender/Helper Impact, that this might not be the smartest approach, the agency e-mailed me a two-sentence unsigned statement. It said that HIT appreciated the concerns of its customers and was working with RC2 on the recall, but that the recall was "clearly RC2's responsibility."

In effect, HIT has outsourced Thomas's image, one of its most valuable assets, to RC2. And RC2 has offered a case study of how not to deal with a crisis, which is all the more amazing when you consider that the company also makes toys for giants like Disney, Nickelodeon, and Sesame Street.

When it first announced the recall, RC2 said its customers would have to cover shipping costs to mail back the trains. It reversed that decision after parents reacted angrily, but it is still going to wait about two months to send the postage refunds. Why? "Because finance is in another building," as one customer service employee on RC2's toll-free hotline told me.

Most important of all, the company hasn't yet explained how the lead got into the trains or what it's doing to avoid a repeat. Like their counterparts at HIT, the RC2 executives have stayed silent.

Though the Chinese manufacturers have clearly been negligent in these cases (and, in this case anyway, have owed up in as dramatic a fashion as you can imagine), I don’t primarily blame them. As far as I’m concerned, the fault lies first and foremost with Mattel, HIT, and other companies that only see dollar signs when they decide to send this work to a country with cheaper labor and no regard for the consequences.

And also, don’t forget to chastise Bushco on this. As this San Francisco Chronicle story notes (dated last February 14th)…

According to the Consumer Product Safety Act, two commissioners can conduct the agency's business for six months after a third commissioner quits. After that, they're restricted from taking action on regulatory maters or civil penalties until the vacancy is filled.

The six-month mark was hit on Jan. 15. It's now a month later, and there's still no indication that Bush is ready to name someone to fill the vacancy and allow the commission to get back to the business of protecting consumers from defective products.

"It's a serious problem," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "We can only hope the new Congress takes a look at this situation and calls on the president to do something."

The agency isn't exactly dead in the water. Even without a quorum of three commissioners, it can still seek voluntary product recalls and take complaints from consumers.

"There are procedures in place to keep the trains running at the CPSC," said Julie Vallese, a spokeswoman for the commission.

Be that as it may, the commission can't act on new regulations, such as a pending ban on the use of lead in children's metal jewelry, which can cause neurological damage and other health problems if kids put the trinkets in their mouths.

"That should be a slam-dunk," Mierzwinski said. "If we had three commissioners, that would probably pass right away."

But we don't, which also means that if a product poses a significant risk to consumers, the manufacturer may need to conduct a recall but wouldn't face any civil penalties until a third commissioner is appointed.

According to the CPSC site, the chairman and acting commissioner is Nancy Nord, and the other commissioner is Thomas Moore.

Also, here is a statement from the John Edwards campaign on the latest Mattel recall, and here is more information on the Patriot Corporation of America Act in response to this story and others (interesting).

If you find yourself pondering the typical Bushco negligence on this issue when shopping for holiday toys this year, try not to rip the stuffing out of that adorable little Elmo doll or twist the head off Barbie’s elegant neck, since some oppressed third-world worker earning a starvation wage (as opposed to an American trying to earn a living) will just have to make it all over again.