China vows to crack down on lead in toys sent to US

WASHINGTON - The Chinese and US consumer-safety agencies agreed to crack down on the use of lead in toys being exported to the United States.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission and China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine announced the agreement at a summit in Washington to address the growing list of recalls of Chinese-made toys and other consumer products. It comes almost 30 years after the United States banned lead paint in toys.

"This is an important signal from the Chinese government that it is serious about working with the CPSC to keep dangerous products out of American homes," Nancy Nord, the acting chairman of the commission, said yesterday.

Chief executives of Mattel Inc. and Toys "R" Us Inc. are to testify to a Senate panel today about the rise in recalls of products from China. Also today, Senator Mark Pryor, the Arkansas Democrat whose subcommittee oversees the Consumer Product Safety Commission, is to unveil legislation to raise fines on violators of safety regulations, increase funding for the safety commission, and require independent testing of some products.

The Chinese government will create and implement a "comprehensive plan" to eliminate the use of lead paint in Chinese-made toys being exported to the United States, according to the agreement signed yesterday by Nord and Wei Chuanzhong, vice minister of the Chinese consumer agency.

The announcement follows a spate of recalls of millions of toys by companies after they found lead paint in Chinese-made products.

Still, the ban on lead paint in toys has been in place since 1978 and has governed all toys sold in the United States, whether domestically made or imported.

"It seems bizarre to have an agreement that codifies 30-year-old law," said Rachel Weintraub, senior counsel for the Consumer Federation of America in Washington. "Yes, lead should not be in children's products, but I hope this isn't too little, too late."

China also agreed to increase inspections at Chinese factories, and the United States agreed to take up Chinese concerns that often the problems with imported toys come from faulty designs by US toymakers.

"These toys are made to the specifications of American companies," Wei said. Nord's agency pledged to undertake "outreach" to US toy companies and importers to stress their responsibility to evaluate product design and to test products.

China, the world's biggest exporter of consumer products, is under pressure from the United States and European Union to strengthen regulations after shipments of products from contaminated toothpaste to defective tires. Melamine, used to make plastics, was found in pet food blamed for killing cats and dogs.

Mattel, the world's largest toymaker, last week announced its third recall in five weeks after discovering 848,000 Chinese-made Barbie and Fisher-Price products with paint that may contain excessive levels of lead.

Also yesterday, the Toy Industry Association, which represents Mattel and others, said it supports new government mandates to force all toymakers to have independent testing of their products.

"These recalls demonstrated to us that we needed to supply further testing," Carter Keithley, the group's president, told the meeting in Washington, referring to new voluntary measures members of his association have adopted.

Chinese-made items were tied to about 95 percent of all US toy recalls this year, rising since 2002 as manufacturers moved more production to China, two Canadian researchers said in a report released yesterday. In earlier years, the proportion stayed at about 50 percent, they said.