Reshaping the toy recall debate

Mattel's mea culpa could help reshape the debate surrounding Chinese-made toys.

New research from two business professors shows that recalls resulting from problems with the U.S. company's design accounted for the vast majority — about 76 percent — of 550 U.S. toy recalls since 1988.

The report was released this month from Paul Beamish, an international-business professor at Canada's University of Western Ontario, and Hari Bapuji, business professor at University of Manitoba's I.H. Asper School of Business in Winnipeg, Canada. It found that recalls blamed on design problems and manufacturing defects, such as lead paint or poor craftsmanship, rose in the past two years as U.S. makers shifted more of their production to China.

But the researchers noted that, "if shifting manufacturing to China resulted in poorer quality goods, then the number of toys recalled due to manufacturing should be greater than the number recalled due to design." But that is not the case.

"Nobody gets a free ride on this," said Beamish, arguing that toy makers' focus on getting new products to market quickly before they are widely copied has resulted in a lot of cost-cutting and inadequate testing.

In addition to toys, China, the world's biggest exporter of consumer products, has faced pressure from global regulators to strengthen safety checks because of products ranging from contaminated toothpaste to tainted pet food.

Retail products are fueling China's expansion, with the fastest-growing major economy exporting $344 billion of consumer goods last year.

Last month, China announced a four-month campaign to weed out defective products and repair damage to the nation's brands.

Material from The Associated Press and Reuters is included in this report.