May 14, 2008

Wal-Mart Raises Bar on Toy-Safety StandardsBy Joseph Pereira and Steve StecklowOnline.WSJ.com

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest toy seller, has ordered its suppliers to meet a new set of children’s-product safety requirements by this fall that goes far beyond existing government regulations.

The standards include strict limits for lead and a broad array of other heavy metals and chemicals that have been linked to various medical and developmental problems in children.

The initiative also encourages suppliers to mark children’s products with “traceability information,” including the factory in which the goods were made. About 80% of the toys sold in the U.S., including those marketed by U.S.-based toy makers, are manufactured in China.

Wal-Mart’s action, and similar moves by rivals such as Target Corp. and Toys “R” Us Inc., follow the discovery of high lead levels in children’s products, the recall of about 25 million toys last year and toy-related deaths that shook consumers and prompted several states, including Washington and Illinois, to adopt more stringent environmental standards than the federal government.

Melissa O’Brien, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said the new standards are part of an effort to restore consumer confidence. Industrywide, toy sales fell 2% in 2007 to $22.1 billion, with toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers — which accounted for most of last year’s recalls — down 5%, according to NPD Group, which tracks the industry. Wal-Mart, of Bentonville, Ark., has also sought to reduce packaging waste and has taken other steps to boost its image as a “green” retailer.

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