Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Alyallen]

WHAT??

I usually highlight things that catch my attention but this whole article is wow....just read the whole darn thing....

Mattel apologizes to China over recalls

By ALEXA OLESEN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 6 minutes ago

BEIJING - U.S.-based toy giant Mattel Inc. issued an extraordinary apology to China on Friday over the recall of Chinese-made toys, taking the blame for design flaws and saying it had recalled more lead-tainted toys than justified.

The gesture by Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice president for worldwide operations, came in a meeting with Chinese product safety chief Li Changjiang, at which Li upbraided the company for maintaining weak safety controls.

"Our reputation has been damaged lately by these recalls," Debrowski told Li in a meeting at Li's office at which reporters were allowed to be present.

"And Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys," Debrowski said.

Mattel ordered three high-profile recalls this summer involving more than 21 million Chinese-made toys, including Barbie doll accessories and toy cars because of concerns about lead paint and tiny magnets that could be swallowed.

The recalls have prompted complaints from China that manufacturers were being blamed for design faults introduced by Mattel.

On Friday, Debrowski acknowledged that "vast majority of those products that were recalled were the result of a design flaw in Mattel's design, not through a manufacturing flaw in China's manufacturers."

Lead-tainted toys accounted for only a small percentage of all toys recalled, he said, adding that: "We understand and appreciate deeply the issues that this has caused for the reputation of Chinese manufacturers."

In a statement issued by the company, Mattel said its lead-related recalls were "overly inclusive, including toys that may not have had lead in paint in excess of the U.S. standards.

"The follow-up inspections also confirmed that part of the recalled toys complied with the U.S. standards," the statement said.

Li reminded Debrowski that "a large part of your annual profit ... comes from your factories in China.

"This shows that our cooperation is in the interests of Mattel, and both parties should value our cooperation. I really hope that Mattel can learn lessons and gain experience from these incidents," Li said, adding that Mattel should "improve their control measures."

Since this summer's recall, Mattel has announced plans to upgrade its safety system by certifying suppliers and increasing the frequency of random, unannounced inspections. It has fired several manufacturers.

Tests had found that lead levels in paint in recalled toys were as high as 110,000 parts per million, or nearly 200 times higher than the accepted safety ceiling of 600 parts per million.

Mattel's shares fell from the mid-$23 level following the first recall in early August, reaching as low as $20.97 on Sept. 10. They have since rebounded to the mid-$23 level again.

China has become a center for the world's toy-making industry, exporting $7.5 billion worth of toys last year.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/ap_on_bi_ge/china_tainted_products

[Julius]

China has developed too quickly to have the decades of quality and safety controls that the west expects. This is going to be a useful issue for western trade partners to pull out every time they want to put reins on China.

[stevemcgarrett]

Somehow I'm not surprised as few Westerners have been inside a modern Chinese factory as I have. Joint venture factories are generally very well run--better so than many factories in the West.

The Chinese were only abiding my the instructions they received. They would have no reason to violate a joint venture agreement.

Of course, the finger was pointed at subcontractors not under these agreements but, again, the managers of the assembly factories wouldn't wish to jeopardize a good deal. Chinese watch their money carefully--very carefully.

Of course, we won't hear a retraction from jinju, who went rabid over this story.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Oh, you are on the board.

So, why haven't you responded to the fact that I WAS in college in '67? The maturity of your posts indicates that you weren't in college before '97.

[Kuros]

The most surprising thing here is that Mattel apologized.

Can we stop scapegoating China now? Thanks.

[djsmnc]

I bet he got a serious hunk of dough in a black briefcase for that!

[jinju]