Toy Makers Move On While Mattel Still in the Hot Seat after Toy Recalls

It seems 2007 will go down in history as the year of toy recalls.  Parents were forced to enter new territory while shopping for toys on their children’s holiday wish list by making sure those toys were also safe.  Attendees at the annual Toy Fair taking place next week in Nuremburg, Germany, have more on their minds than making sure they have the hottest new toy.

The world’s toy industry is hoping to move forward past last years China-made toys laden with toxic substances.  A representative from Eurotoys, a consulting firm that monitors Europe’s toys, states the toy industry suffered greatly by the rise in wages and raw material costs resulting from the toy recalls. 

Before China established itself as a main toy manufacturer, Nuremburg was the European center for toy making.  This year the main focus of toys being presented at the fair have a bigger emphasis on education, encouraging children to learn while playing.   The fair hopes to increase Europe’s toy sales as they have only risen slightly, if at all, since the worldwide toy recalls.

Although European toymakers may be moving forward, Americans are still unsettled about toy safety in the United States.  Yesterday, dozens of lawmakers signed a letter demanding Mattel to do more to cease the production of lead filled children’s toys.  Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings wrote the letter, and 50 other lawmakers signed it as well.

The letter insisted Mattel, the largest toymaker, remove lead from their entire product line. Cummings also recently claimed that Mattel did not do enough to pull the Fischer-Price medical kit from the market upon discovery of high levels of lead.  Mattel’s response was simply that consumers have been made aware "from the beginning" that they can contact the company for a replacement.  Since more than 25 million toys were recalled last year, Congress has vowed to strengthen toy safety by lowering the acceptable amount of lead allowed in toys and increasing funding for the Consumer Products Safety Commission.  Mattel has hired lobbyists to monitor ongoing safety regulations in Washington.  See our Organic Baby Products post to learn about choosing quality products for your infant or child.

Tags: toy recalls

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 5:36 pm and is filed under Baby Safety. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.