Chinese toys tainted by lead or made by child labour

(July14,2010) Rampant corruption is undermining safety standards in mainland China's toy factories, which meet 80 per cent of global demand. According to the South China Morning Post, Chinese toy manufacturers, blame quality control auditors employed to enforce standards, for receiving bribes in order to turn a blind eye to the increasingly stringent safety standards demanded by foreign retailers.
Corruption between manufacturers and auditors is so bad that the International Council of Toy Industries' Care Foundation, ICTI, which is a worldwide industry programme to promote ethical manufacturing, has sacked about 20 of the 145 mainland auditors so far this year. "Bribery and wages are not the only problems," said Ian Anderson, vice-president of the foundation's Asian operations, who spoke at a seminar on Monday. "We have found child labour cases every month,” he added. The problem is not new. In 2007, the United States banned the sale of toys made in China for toy multinational Mattel because of excess lead in paint used in products for toddlers. At least, two million toys were recalled. In the last few years, accusations of child labour have also surfaced.
About 2,300 factories employing 1.7 million workers worldwide have enrolled in the ICTI programme, a set of practices that are recognised in the US and in several European countries. However, the increasingly tough standards are causing problems of their own. Chinese manufacturers are afraid that new scandals might negatively impact exports, already reeling from the worldwide crisis. Last year, the mainland exported 7.78 billion dollars worth of toys, 10 per cent less than in 2008.