Jonathan Dee’s article, “A Toy Maker’s Conscience“, which appeared in the New York Times Magazine at the end of December is a must read.

First, it’s a generous yet clear-eyed portrait of Baruch College professor Prakash Sethi, a defining force in the movement for corporate accountability for more than 35 years.

His story is one of the great ones in our business, but it has gone, largely, unheralded. And Jonathan Dee has gotten both the story and Prof. Sethi’s voice right.

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Over the past couple of months, China’s response to expanding concerns over the safety of products manufactured there has ranged from the execution of the former head of China’s food and drug administration, to a complete disavowal of any responsibility for enforcing foreign standards.

The latter is evident in a quotation that caught my eye in an Associated Press article, “Toys just 1 danger imported from China,” published on August 18th in response to Mattel’s latest announced recall of 19 million toys manufactured in China. When the China National Light Industry Council trade group hosted a panel on toy standards, Zhang Yanfen, secretary of the panel, claimed that “the quality of Chinese-made toys with American brands should be the responsibility of the American brand owner, not the Chinese manufacturer.”

But if that is the case, why has a company like Mattel, a leader in its industry with respect to setting and overseeing health, safety and environmental standards, been forced to recall millions of children’s toys due to lead paint and other safety issues?

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This week, in the wake of recent discoveries of lead paint in toys and contaminated toothpaste, pet food and other products from China, the International Herald Tribune reported that large American toy and food retailers were “stepping up their analysis of imported goods that they sell”.

News coverage of tainted products from China reached a fever pitch in the late spring, with customers (including parents of children who love Thomas the Tank Engine toy trains) demanding companies do something to ensure the safety of the products they sell. As is often the case, it has taken a public outcry (based on investigative reporting) to light a fire under companies.

It is not a new thing that suppliers have been cutting corners on products to meet the growing demand for cheap goods. But the deaths of about 100 people in Panama from tainted Chinese cough medicine, and the deaths of dozens of cats and dogs in the U.S. from melamine-laced pet food made in China, have focused people’s minds.

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