Mattel Toys Sold in Kingdom ‘Safe’

JEDDAH, 7 September 2007 — None of Mattel’s recalled toys were exported to Saudi Arabia despite the US toy manufacturer’s recent announcement that it is recalling another more than 700,000 Chinese-made toys that have been found to have excessive amounts of lead paint, the third such recall on Mattel toys in a month.

Eyad Hamdouneh, trade marketing manager at Al-Qurashi Trading Company, sole distributors of Mattel toys in Saudi Arabia, said “upon receiving information of the first and second Mattel recall, we found that none of the items were exported to Saudi Arabia,” he told Arab News.

He added that one of the three recently recalled toys had been ordered by his company but was still in transport and that proper notification has been provided through Al-Qurashi’s agent instructing the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce to destroy the shipment at the Jeddah Islamic Seaport upon arrival.

“Taking care of Mattel’s reputation and the reputation of Al-Qurashi Trading Company as its sole distributor in providing the Saudi consumer with the safest possible products is our number one goal, as shown by the willingness and quickness in making the voluntary recall by Mattel on the it’s products,” Hamdouneh noted.

“Lead has been found to initially present itself in the nervous system and cause a number of dangerous health problems including mental retardation, behavioral problems, anemia, and in extreme cases even death in very small children,” said Mohammed Barza, a pediatrician with a private clinic of the same name in Jeddah. Current US FDA regulations in accord with the recently established Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) state that no children’s products found to have an excess of 0.6 percent lead should be accessible to consumers and are subject to recall.

Still some concerns have been raised that some of the newly returning holiday travelers from the Kingdom may have purchased the recalled toys abroad unaware of the recalls.

Anyone may visit the US Consumer Product Safety Commission website at www.cpsc.gov to be sure of the product.

Further information on what to do to return the toy for a free replacement can be found by visiting www.mattel.com.safety.