Chinese toymaker’s mea culpa: Time magazine
August 14th, 2007 by AdministratorTime magazine’s Austin Ramzy writes today about the suicide of one of Lee Der Industrial’s co-owners after his company was identified as one of the manufacturers of toys recalled by Mattel. He goes on to write about the impact the greater product-safety issue is having on China’s manufacturing market:
With its export-driven economic growth on the line, the Chinese government has taken aggressive steps to safeguard the reputation of its goods. [...] The measures are “a combination of window dressing and substance,” says Steve Ganster, the managing director of Technomic Asia, a Shanghai-based consultancy.
“The window dressing is important politically, but I think there will be true substance that, like anything in China, will trickle down and have an effect in the bigger market.” But until that effect takes place, the drumbeat of product recalls looks set to continue: on Tuesday, reports emerged that Mattel would announce another toy recall, over lead-based paint traced to a different Chinese manufacturer.
Read the full article on Time’s Web site.
