China asks U.S. importers to share responsibility for recalled toys

China said on Wednesday that the United States importers and brand owners should take responsibility for recalled toys, as statistics showed the U.S. product quality watchdog filed 29 recall cases involving toys made in China in 2006.

"Chinese Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) were doing the job just as importers requested, and the toys conformed with the U.S. regulations and standards at the time of the production," said a spokesman with China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The recall of the magnetic construction toys by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), for example, was caused by the brand owner's design but not the OEM, said the spokesman.

Chinese OEMs produced over 80 percent of the toy exports to the U.S. and most Chinese toy exports were up to American standards, said the spokesman.

China exported 300,000 batches of toys to the United States last year, with the CPSC only filing 29 recall cases.

To prevent loopholes in quality control, overseas brand owners should improve its product design and supervision over product quality, said the spokesman.

A recall case filed by U.S. RC2 Corp. and CPSC last month involved toy trains made by a Guangdong-based company which used paint containing lead poisonous to children.

On Aug. 2, another toy company, Fisher-Price, also recalled more than one million character toys with unqualified paint. The producer's paint provider made the paint using fake materials.

China's quality control department has suspended the export of the problematic toys, while the police has launched an investigation into the case.