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Two more US recalls as China cracks down
2007-08-10
Two more US recalls of China-made products came to light Thursday as Beijing cracked down on manufacturers held responsible for a massive recall by toy giant Mattel last week. In the latest in a slew of callbacks of faulty and tainted Chinese products, US importer Foreign Tire Sales Inc. (FTS) of Union, New Jersey, recalled 255,000 defective Chinese-made automobile tires, saying they lacked a key safety feature that could be dangerous. Separately, the Chicago Tribune reported that US toy firm Schylling Associates voluntarily recalled 24,000 Chinese-made "Thomas and Friends" spinning tops from 2001-2002 with wooden knobs that were painted with lead-based paint. FTS said in a statement on its Internet site that the steel-belted radial tires for light trucks and sport-utility vehicles did not have gum strips, or had too-small gum strips, which help protect the tread and steel belt from separating from the tire. The company said the lack of gum strips "posed a safety hazard," and said the Chinese manufacturer, Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co., "changed the construction of the tires without informing FTS." According to reports, FTS was sued after two people died in an accident allegedly caused by a faulty tire. Schylling Associates, of Rowley, Massachusetts, meanwhile told the Tribune it had replaced the tainted wooden knobs on the tops with plastic five years ago but had never issued a recall on already-sold toys. Chief operating officer Jim Leonard was quoted as saying the company was checking to see whether any of its other products had lead problems. Schylling Associates did not immediately respond to queries from AFP. The new recalls come in the wake of a series of Chinese product problems, including two major toy recalls in recent weeks due to the use of toxic lead paint. China said earlier Thursday it had suspended exports by manufacturers linked to those recalls. Hansheng Woodware Factory and Lee Der Industrial Co, both in southern China, cannot export until they "correct the problems and become qualified," China's quality administration said in a statement on its website. Lee Der supplied the nearly one million toys recalled on August 1 by US toy giant Mattel's Fisher-Price subsidiary. In a statement, the government quality watchdog blamed Lee Der's paint supplier for providing "fake lead-free paint powder," and said those responsible, if they broke the law, would be "handed over to the judicatory department for severe punishment." Hansheng Woodware made 1.5 million wooden "Thomas the Train" figures which were recalled by US toy importer RC2 Corp. in June. A staff member at Hansheng, who declined to give her name, said the export suspension was temporary. Problems with products exported to the US have dogged the Chinese government all year. In May, US Food and Drug Administration officials launched a probe in China into the source of tainted feed that reportedly killed thousands of pets in the United States and was also used to feed farm chicken and pigs. Other problems have surfaced with toothpaste and seafood imported from China. Despite the latest safety scare, Beijing's quality administration defended the country's toy products and called for the overseas importers and brand owners to also shoulder responsibility. "The overwhelming majority of toys made in China meet US standards. Of about 300,000 batches for export in 2006, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission only made about 29 recalls," it said.
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