More than 30 percent of children's toys manufactured in Shenzhen
in the past two months were found to be substandard, according to a
report released by the city's quality watchdog Monday.
The report was based on a citywide inspection which covered
plush toys, electronic toys and strollers, yesterday's Shenzhen
Special Zone Daily said. Among the 13 batches of toys
inspected, only nine batches conformed to the national
standard.
Excessive amounts of metal, especially lead, were found in some
electronic toys, which might pose a health hazard for children who
play with the toys for a long time, the Daily report
said.
Two batches of strollers were found to be potentially dangerous
as the combustibility of fabrics used was not up to standard.
Substandard plastic bags and film on baby walkers could also prove
to be dangerous, as they posed choking hazards, officials with the
municipal quality supervision bureau said.
Other problems found during the inspection were ropes so thin
they could cut the skin of children, and parts that could easily be
swallowed.
Experts suggested that parents pay special attention to the
warning sign, validity period and operating instructions while
choosing toys for their children to avoid potential safety hazards,
the Daily report said.
Meanwhile, the city's quality watchdog also found in a separate
inspection that nearly 30 percent of children's clothes
manufactured in the city were substandard.
The screening involved 51 batches of children's clothes from 22
companies and the unsafe clothes either contained excessive amounts
of heavy metal or used dyes that would run easily.
As for children's food, excessive amounts of coloring agents is
still the major problem, according to yesterday's Shenzhen
Evening News.
(Shenzhen Daily May 30, 2007)
Related
story:
A Dangerous Game: Toys Run Foul of Online
Inspections
Nearly three-quarters of toys sold over the Internet have
serious quality problems and could be a danger to children,
according to a survey by city quality watchdogs.
The Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision tested
58 toys bought from seven popular online vendors, including
Taobao.com, eBay and Joyo.
Some of the toys were found to have small parts that could be
easily swallowed while some contained long sections of rope or
string that could strangle young children.
Most of the toys had no Chinese labeling on the package and
parents would be unable to tell whether the item was suitable for
their children.
The bureau found toy fishing boats on eBay that were made in
China for export to Japan had no Chinese on the package.
An inspection of store-bought toys revealed a problem rate of 13
percent, said Cao Hong, deputy director of the bureau's supervision
department.
Cao said online purchasing laws only regulate payment in the
online trade, but do not cover quality standards.
This has led to many low-quality products finding their way onto
the online market.
"Another problem is that consumers find it hard to protect their
rights after buying things on the Internet," Cao said. "Cyber-store
owners are different from real ones, and they don't have to
register with the industrial and commercial authorities, and it's
hard to look into their responsibilities."
The bureau said it has no legal right to order online stores to
take their unqualified products off the shelves. However, some of
the toys' manufacturers face penalties.
"We are still discussing the penalties with the producers," said
Cao.
"But some of the toys don't have any production information on
them, and we can't do anything about them."
The bureau said the toy inspection was the first in a series of
online investigations.
"We are now carrying out quality tests on other products sold on
the Internet," Cao said.
(Shanghai Daily?May 30, 2007)