September 28, 2007	Friday	Ramazan 15, 1428

LONDON, Sept 27: Britain’s Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA) said on Thursday it would tighten quality controls in the country after a China toy scare prompted the global recall of millions of children’s products.

BTHA has met representatives of big toy firms like Mattel and Walt Disney to try and strengthen quality control when toys come off the finishing line.

“We want to introduce more certification, and the plan is to educate toy manufacturers about quality control processes,” Natasha Crookes, director of communications at BTHA, told Reuters by telephone on Thursday.

More than 20 million made-in-China toys have been recalled over the last two months, mostly by US companies, as exports from manufacturers have come under scrutiny for high levels of lead and design defects.

Out of this total, 2 million toys were recalled from Britain, according to BTHA.

On Wednesday, more than half a million Chinese-made children’s products were recalled due to dangerous levels of lead, including 269,000 of RC2 Corp’s popular wooden “Thomas & Friends” toy trains.

Earlier this month, Mattel announced a third recall of Chinese toys, saying it would take back more than 800,000 units globally that contain “impermissible” levels of lead.

Mattel did say, however, that the “vast majority” of products recalled were due to a flaw in Mattel’s design, not a manufacturing flaw, and that it had recalled more toys than necessary because it put safety first.

Crookes said enforcement agencies like the Trading Standard Offices will also help to enforce toy safety.

“They carry out spot checks of safety and check up on consumer complaints about products, and the aim is that all enforcement agencies in the 27 European countries have the same strict standards,” she said.

US and Chinese officials agreed this month to take immediate steps to stop the use of lead paint in toys made in China, and retailer Toys “R” Us said it was increasing the frequency of safety checks on products sold in its stores.

Walt Disney said it would begin random tests of toys, children’s jewellery and infant products like baby bibs, while Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said it was asking suppliers to resubmit testing documentation for the toys it sells.

Kolcraft: The US Consumer Product Safety Commission said Chicago-based Kolcraft Enterprises Inc is voluntarily recalling about 425,000 infant play yards after a 10-month old boy was strangled to death by getting trapped on a changing table’s restraint strap.

Twelve different Kolcraft play yards are included in this recall and the play yards were manufactured in China, the commission said in a statement.—Reuters