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Report: 1 in 7 Chinese-made toys substandard

SHANGHAI, China - About one in seven toys made in China fail to meet government standards, a report said Thursday, citing calls for better safeguards to protect children - and the country's reputation as the world's No. 1 toymaker.

Toys made of wood and plastic had the worst safety record in a survey by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine this year, the state-run newspaper China Daily reported.

China makes about three-quarters of the world's toys, and its dominant role in the industry has raised worries over lax enforcement of safety standards for the products it makes and the people who make them.

False label information, improper fittings and loose parts were the main hazards. Although fabric and stuffed toys were better, one in seven failed the child safety tests, it said.

Many toy producers put higher-than-required age limits on their toys to skirt stricter safety requirements for toys suited for children younger than 3, the report said.

The Chinese Consumers Association cited the data in a call for better toy safety.

"It is very urgent for our country to set up a market-access system in the toy industry to locate the sources of dangerous toys," the China Daily quoted Zhang Shi, an expert with the National Toy Standardization Association, as saying.

Many of China's more than 10,000 toy factories are private and less likely to conform to government standards, the report said. But efforts are under way to improve the situation.

In 2003, the International Council of Toy Industries, the biggest industry association, said it would begin inspecting factories to ensure they meet health, labor and safety codes. By 2006, toys not certified by the group cannot be exported, state media have reported.

In October, new domestic regulations went into effect that require detailed safety indications, warnings and instructions for use on toys.

[Last modified May 27, 2005, 00:39:13]