Wake up, Congress! Wal-Mart Pressure on Chinese Suppliers Making Toys Less Safe – National Consumers League

by National Consumers League staff

It turns out that more than 70 percent of the merchandise on Wal-Mart’s shelves come from China. If Wal-Mart were a country, the retail giant would be China’s sixth largest trading partner. That’s ahead of Germany and England.

This is particularly interesting — and particularly during this time of year — because it also controls about a-third of America’s toy market, making it the number one seller of toys in the United States. It’s even bigger than stores that specialize in the sale of toys. We learned recently that Wal-Mart is the #1 customer for each of the four companies that have issued major toy recalls in 2007. These four companies — Mattel, Hasbro, RC2 Corporation, and Graco – have recalled a combined 13 million toys in the past 10 months.

During the holiday shopping season, this toy safety fiasco is scarier than ever for millions of parents in the United States who may be worried about the toys their children are going to receive as gifts in the coming weeks.

We think it’s intense pressure from toy retailers like Wal-Mart to continually shave costs on the manufacturing side that may have contributed to the diminished quality and safety of the toys that American consumers buy. We want Congress to take a closer look at this issue and consider what can be done to protect consumers, especially children, from the consequences of this relentless pressure on toy manufacturers.

We signed on to a letter that was sent today by WakeUpWalMart.com and Wal-Mart Watch, joining other leading consumer and environmental groups, to North Dakota Senator Byron Dorgan, who chairs the Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce, Trade & Tourism, asking him to call for hearings on Wal-Mart’s pressure on Chinese suppliers.