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Advertisement | Parents, Toy Companies Stress After RecallFrantic Search For Tainted Products Begins After Fisher-Price Recalls Nearly 1 Million Chinese-Made ToysWASHINGTON, Aug. 2, 2007 ![]() ![]() Lead-Tainted Toys RecalledNearly 1 million Fisher-Price toys that were manufactured in China have been recalled by Mattel because they were tainted with lead paint. Sandra Hughes reports. | Share/Embed (CBS/AP) Mattel, considered by experts as a role model in how to do business in China, remained in crisis control. The company contends the recall was "fast-tracked," allowing it to quarantine two-thirds of the toys before they even made it to stores. Still, executives are trying to find out how this situation happened. "There is an extreme sense of urgency," said David Allmark, general manager of Fisher-Price. Jim Walter, senior vice president of worldwide quality control for Mattel, is heading to China to meet with vendors. China also moved to clear up another blot on its reputation. "China has always conducted international trade in the spirit of being responsible to its trade partners and itself," China's Commerce Minister Bo Xilai said in a statement published Thursday on the ministry's Web site. "Ninety-nine percent of China's exports are good and safe." There is also increasing pressure for government regulation of the U.S. toy industry. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced a bill last month that he contended would dramatically expand the Consumer Product Safety Commission's ability to protect the public. Another piece of legislation, introduced by Durbin and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., would require third-party testing of imported and domestic toys and goods designed for children 5 years old or younger. The CPSC now lets manufacturers inspect and approve their own children's products. "We need better regulation of the toy industry. Until then, parents are going to have to be the watchdogs," said Joanne Oppenheim, president of Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, which produces an annual independent toy guide. Hasbro Inc. said in a statement that it "maintains stringent quality control standards in all aspects of the manufacturing process, in both Hasbro-owned factories as well as factories that are contracted to produce Hasbro-branded product." Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit group that produces the 'Sesame Street" TV program, said Thursday it plans independent audits and other steps in an attempt to hold licensees to the highest health and safety standards. Retailers including KB Toys Inc., Wal-Mart and Toys 'R' Us Inc. said they removed all the affected products off the shelves in recent days, but they are left to contend with shoppers' concerns. "I'm going to pay much more attention to what I'm giving my children. I absolutely would pay more for 'green' toys," said Schneider-Fisher.
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