Poor Quality Chinese Toys – Whither is the Problem?

It seems the problem with poor quality Chinese-made toys sold by Mattel is not limited to the U.S. alone. Parents in Canada too have been spending sleepless nights after learning of recalls of Chinese-made toys there as well. The reason for the worldwide recall: excessive lead content in these toys.

The numbers are astounding: 431,000 Sarge toys across the world, including 32,800 in Canada. 18.2 million magnetic toys globally – including Barbie, Batman, Polly Pocket, and other brands. However, this is not the first time Chinese product recalls are happening.

Over 431 Chinese products have been recalled in Canada over the last three years. These include 150 toys, 73 household goods, and 53 baby products. This number in itself is four times more than that in the US over the same period (97 products).

So how did Chinese-made toys with excessive lead make their way to the shores of the western world, which is quality conscious to the extent of being paranoiac at times? That question may have qualified for a Sherlock Holmes story sometime back. Not today, however.

In today’s world, the story of how poor quality Chinese toys reached American and Canadian soil is not about an extreme left wing conspiracy to wage war against the west. It is a matter of simple economics and that bane of most business enterprises– greed.

Cutting cost is the mantra to higher profits nowadays. So what does a toy manufacturing and marketing leviathan do when it wants huge quantities of well-made toys at rates to kill for? Buy them for a pittance from another source, of course. And so it is that Mattel ends up buying their toys from Chinese manufacturers.

But that is just one side of the story. In China, and indeed in any country of its kind where the word ‘rich’ is very selectively used and the majority form the poor, the basic idea is to make as many products as possible and be profitable by volume, if not anything else, and quality be damned.

In China, these toys are made in small factories. The accent is on ‘cheap’, and hence the material used is cheap plastic, metal, or even wood. That in itself is ok. It is when they start adding lead to make the colors appear brighter that the problem surfaces.

It is not like there is no Chinese government regulation regarding the levels of lead acceptable for usage in products such as these. There is such regulation in place. It is just that enforcing these regulations is a big problem. The manufacturers never stick to the permissible lead levels most of the time.

It is only when once in a while something of this magnitude is detected that people feel guilt and outrage and all that. The CEO of one of the Chinese firms manufacturing the toys committed suicide recently as a result of the ongoing toy recall by Mattel, Inc. However, the damage has already been done.

With all the hullabaloo going on about the danger of exposing kids to these high lead levels, spare a thought for the Chinese people making these toys and other Chinese products. I say other Chinese products because it is not just with lead-laden paint that China is having a problem. That is just one part of the story.

There are numerous other Chinese products being recalled from the global market. Chinese products recalled so far this year alone include toothpaste, pet food, and even tires. All this means is that in China it is not just lead people have to be worried about. Countless other toxins compete with lead there.

Toxins are, in fact, like a part of life there. The government may have ensured there is no more leaded gasoline, but they have not been able to do much about the gas pipes, house paint, factories, and other such sources of toxins. But there is more to the entire scenario than Chinese greed and callousness.

The whole thing is actually one big vicious cycle involving both China as well as its Western clients. Western buyers demand lower prices from Chinese manufacturers, who in turn resort to compromising on quality to cut costs and retain some sane levels of profitability, however marginal that may be, while selling cheap.

The world is crying itself hoarse about China’s poor quality control initiatives. The Chinese, however, are remaining true to form – there has not been a single mention of any of these in the state-run Chinese television. However, silence definitely cannot be the answer at this stage.

China has to be honest enough in its approach to ensure it is able to restore its credibility before the rest of the world. However, the timing of the entire issue has not helped any, either. Place credibility alongside hosting the Olympics, and you will see the nation, for all its hard talk, has a tough choice to make.