From Nation, page 10, issue no. 341, November 12th 2007
Translated by Liu Peng
Original article: [Chinese]

Although the American toy giant Mattel has apologized for its worldwide recall exercise of China-made toys, the score has yet to be settled. Chinese toy makers, who suffered financial losses and a reputation crisis in the fallout after the recall, are planning to sue it.

The law suit is expected to be filed by toy industry players from Guangdong province grouped under an umbrella body, who are now seeking legal consultation in preparation for the case.

Chen Lipeng, director of the fair trade division of Guangdong Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, revealed those plans during the annual China International Economic Law Conference on November 3rd.

This latest incarnation of the product safety drama traces back to August, when Mattel announced a recall of 21 million China-made toys. It was played-up by the foreign media, who launched an assault on the Chinese toy makers.

Among the recalled toys, 85 percent were made in accordance with the requirements set by American clients and importers. Fifteen percent contained excessive lead, for which Chinese manufacturers were held responsible. The statistics were released by the General Administration of Quality Supervision，Inspection and Quarantine at the end of August.

On September 21, Thomas A. Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice president for worldwide operations, apologized for damaging China's export reputation in the aftermath of the recall, admitting that the majority of the products were flawed due to the way Mattel designed them.

Subsequently, China's Ministry of Commerce organized several training sessions for domestic toy makers to improve products quality control and management. At the same time, Guangdong local government also performed stringent checks on toy manufacturers, issuing shutdown or reform orders to unqualified manufacturers.

These damage control measures, however, are unable to completely restore the reputation of "Made in China" products.