Official: China knew about magnets

BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China knew about problems with magnets on toys as long ago as March, an industry official said on Wednesday, following a second massive recall of Chinese-made Mattel toys due to hazards from small, powerful magnets.

Mattel Inc. the largest U.S. toy company, recalled millions more Chinese-made toys on Tuesday due to hazards from the magnets and lead paint, and warned it may recall additional products as it steps up testing.

"We knew about the situation, because since March some toys had been recalled due to magnetic-parts problems," an official with the China Toy Association, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.

She did not elaborate on why it had taken so long for something to be done.

The new recall involves about 18.2 million magnetic toys globally, including 9.5 million in the United States.

About 253,000 Pixar Sarge die-cast toy cars with lead paint were also recalled. Lead has been linked to health problems in children, including brain damage. The China Toy Association would meet the Commerce Ministry and quality watchdog later in the day to discuss the recall, the official added.

A statement on the association's Web site (www.toy-cta.org) repeated the standard line that Chinese-made toys were overwhelmingly safe and that the government takes the issue very seriously.

"The Chinese government and industry have all along attached great importance to the issue of toy quality safety, and taken a series of measures such as strengthened authentication," it said.

Of about 300,000 batches for export, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission had only made about 29 recalls, it added.

"The general safety level of Chinese toys is worthy of trust," the statement said.

China has been struggling to persuade the world its products are safe after a series of scandals over tainted pet food, drugs, tires, toys and toothpaste.

Last week, the government banned two factories from exporting toys following the previous week's high-profile recall of Mattel products, including Big Bird and Elmo. E-mail to a friend

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