Reply With QuoteBut outsourcing is good for america, just ask the retards in here.
I wonder why products are made in china are so cheap?
Maybe one reason has something to do with the complete lax of enviromental controls?
We are all a bunch of retards, and our government has sent us down the river.
Brian
Link to story (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070802/..._ge/toy_recall)
WASHINGTON - Toy-maker Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead.
The recall being announced Thursday involves 967,000 plastic preschool toys made by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August. It is the latest in a wave of recalls that has heightened global concern about the safety of Chinese-made products.
The recall is the first for Fisher-Price Inc. and parent company Mattel Inc. involving lead paint. It is the largest for Mattel since 1998 when Fisher-Price had to yank about 10 million Power Wheels from toy stores.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, David Allmark, general manager of Fisher-Price, said the problem was detected by an internal probe and reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The recall is particularly alarming since Mattel, known for its strict quality controls, is considered a role model in the toy industry for how it operates in China.
Fisher-Price and the commission issued statements saying parents should keep suspect toys away from children and contact the company.
The commission works with companies to issue recalls when it finds consumer goods that can be harmful. Under current regulations, children's products found to have more than .06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.
Allmark says the recall was "fast-tracked," which allowed the company to quarantine two-thirds of the recalled toys before they even made it to store shelves. In negotiating details of the recall, Fisher-Price and the government sought to withhold details from the public until Thursday to give stores time to get suspect toys off shelves and Fisher-Price time to get its recall hot line up and running. However, some news organizations prematurely posted an embargoed version of the story online.
Allmark said the recall was troubling because Fisher-Price has had a long-standing relationship with the Chinese vendor, which had applied decorative paint to the toys. Allmark said the company would use this recall as an opportunity to put even better systems in place to monitor vendors whose conduct does not meet Mattel's standards.
He added: "We are still concluding the investigation, how it happened. ... But there will be a dramatic investigation on how this happened. We will learn from this."
The recall follows another high-profile move from toy maker RC2 Corp., which in June voluntarily recalled 1.5 million wooden railroad toys and set parts from its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line. The company said that the surface paint on certain toys and parts made in China between January 2005 and April 2006 contain lead, affecting 26 components and 23 retailers.
"Anytime a company brings a banned hazardous product into the U.S. marketplace, especially one intended for children, it is unacceptable," said Nancy Nord, acting chair of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. "Ensuring that Chinese-made toys are safe for U.S. consumers is one of my highest priorities and is the subject of vital talks currently in place between CPSC and the Chinese government."
Carter Keithley, president of the Toy Industries Association, praised Mattel's quick response to the problem, and suggested Mattel will use this setback as a lesson for not only the company but for the entire industry. However, he expressed concern about how the recall and other toy recalls will play out in consumers' minds in advance of the holiday season.
"We are worried about the public feeling," said Keithley, adding he observed how toy companies are embracing strict controls during a recent toy safety seminar in China. "We have thought all along that (consumers) can be confident in the products," he said. "But if companies like Mattel have this, then you have to ask how did this happen?"
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., introduced a bill last month that he contended would dramatically expand the product safety commission's ability to protect consumers. In a statement Wednesday night, Durbin also called for better safety standards for products imported from China.
"Sadly, this is the most recent in a series of disturbing recalls of children's toys. While the toys may be different, they have one thing in common they were manufactured in China," he said. "With the current tools and resources the Consumer Product Safety Commission has, it cannot adequately protect American consumers."
Owners of a recalled toy can exchange it for a voucher for another product of the same value. To see pictures of the recalled toys, visit http://www.service.mattel.com. For more information, call Mattel's recall hot line at 800-916-4498.
But outsourcing is good for america, just ask the retards in here.
what surprises me about this topic is that everybody acts like this is a new problem.
"made in China" accounts for 65% of all recalls in the U.S. and roughly 20% of the imports. When given a choice I buy USA or at least taiwan.
Before WWII, most Americans considered Japanese goods inferior or that they made good toys. China is poised to overtake Germany as the world's 3 largest economy this year...not in 20 years!
You may recall the "pet food recall"...well, oddly enough one of the ladies that works at one of my bosses office cut her finger opening a can of cat food and became infected requiring 8 DAYS IN THE HOSPITAL. She'll be out of work another week.
Is that crazy or what?
CC
But outsourcing is good for america, just ask the retards in here.
But outsourcing is good for america Wutchu talkin bout Willis?
Corporate America runs on increasing the bottom line and in order to accomplish that costs need to be cut. Somewhere in the quest for lower costs contributing to more sales, we have allowed inferior, unsafe, and counterfeit products to enter our country all because they are cheaper.
The only solution is more governmental controls over the quality of imports.
Corporate America runs on increasing the bottom line and in order to accomplish that costs need to be cut. Somewhere in the quest for lower costs contributing to more sales, we have allowed inferior, unsafe, and counterfeit products to enter our country all because they are cheaper.
The only solution is more governmental controls over the quality of imports.
Tex I agree. More govt controls sounds odd coming from a conservative
Tex I agree. More govt controls sounds odd coming from a conservative
We have the inspection agencies in place, they just need to expand on manpower.
Agricultural products are a prime example of where we need more bodies. I'm very cautious as to the sorce of the produce, meat, and seafood I purchase. Most instances of contamination has come from mass imports in the big chains.
If you are familiar with Rigging products, Crosby out of OK is the world's largest manufacturer of shackles. A Chinese company has counterfitted the Crosby shackle and there have been numerous failures in the US and Europe. Failure being the shackle fails below the rated load when the real product has a 5:1 safety factor. Scary and dangerous stuff. Ther is very little quality control and testing on chinesse products. But industry is weeding them out slowly.
"We have the inspection agencies in place, they just need to expand on manpower."
Yeah, just what we need is more gov't.
Old Texan, splain this to me. While these companies are shooting for the bottom line,=> making more profits, who's paying for the inspection of all of these "goods" that are being brought into this country? How much of our tax(blood) money is being used so these companies can boost their bottom line?
Where are these profits going? NOT into the pockets of the American dummy. i.e.-> the general economy but into the pockets of a few. Every dollar spent over seas goes into the economy of that country and as such has no benefit to us. It's just 1 more dollars worth of the USA that's owned by some fu(ken foreign entity.
Rio
Ain't saying it's the way it should be, just talking about what's actaully happening.
Why else would manufacturing go offshore other than to cut costs?
We have way to little help from government to help businesses operate "cheaper". Inventory taxes, business taxes, healthcare mandates, and on and on. All effect the bottom line. I don't advocate nor agree with purchasing from the "enemy" but I don't make the rules.
A lot of folks love the "flea market" economy where a lot of the foreign junk is sold. Not me.
Inspections would keep a whole lot of this junk from coming here and raise the cost of doing business for the offshore manufacturers. I'm viewing inspecting and tighter standards as a good thing, don't you?
Ain't saying it's the way it should be, just talking about what's actaully happening.
Why else would manufacturing go offshore other than to cut costs?
We have way to little help from government to help businesses operate "cheaper". Inventory taxes, business taxes, healthcare mandates, and on and on. All effect the bottom line. I don't advocate nor agree with purchasing from the "enemy" but I don't make the rules.
A lot of folks love the "flea market" economy where a lot of the foreign junk is sold. Not me.
Inspections would keep a whole lot of this junk from coming here and raise the cost of doing business for the offshore manufacturers. I'm viewing inspecting and tighter standards as a good thing, don't you?
I would suggest more control and more inspections of imported items funded by a tax on the exporter.
I would suggest more control and more inspections of imported items funded by a tax on the exporter.
Anything to attach expense to their "bottom lines" helps level the playing field.
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