Robert Eckert, CEO of troubled toy maker Mattel Inc. (MAT), which recalled 21 million toys with lead paint recently, said on Wednesday in a testimony to the U.S. congress that the company has taken more strict measures to ensure toy safety.The El Segundo, California-based company, which makes Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels vehicles, conducted three lead paint-related recalls over the past several weeks involving 21 million Chinese-made toys for having excessive amount of paint or detached magnets.Blaming the Chinese vendors for the recalls, Eckert said the company has many safeguards in place, but the contractors failed to comply with them, leading to unacceptable levels of lead paint in certain toys and the voluntary recalls. Eckert said, our systems were circumvented, and our standards were violated... I can't change the past, but I can change the way we do things. And I already have. We are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again.Expressing his apologies, Eckert said before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government that the company has increased testing of products, dropped problem vendors and also tightened restrictions on contractors. According to him, Mattel has embarked on a strengthened 3-point safety check system to enforce compliance with all regulations and standards applicable to lead paint.The new system stipulates that every batch of paint, after purchasing from a certified paint supplier, should be re-tested before it is used to ensure that lead standards are met. The sample tests have to be performed by Mattel's own laboratories or by laboratories certified by the company. Also, paint on samples of finished products from every production run must be tested for lead by Mattel's own laboratories or by laboratories certified by Mattel. The company has also increased the frequency of random, unannounced inspections of vendors and subcontractors to ensure that they meet quality and safety procedures.Admitting that `` We are by no means perfect,'' Eckert said the company has created a new Corporate Responsibility organization reporting directly to him.Refuting certain reports that Mattel's views on reporting to the Consumer Product Safety Commission were different from that of the Commission, Eckert said, We had initiated a dialogue with the Commission prior to this summer's recalls to develop a new set of reporting protocols.According to the commission, the producers have to report claims of potentially hazardous product defects within 24 hours, barring a few exceptions. It was reported that Mattel's timetable for reporting these hazards differs from that of the CPSC and that it believes both the law and the commission's enforcement practices are unreasonable.Reports quoted Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, the top Republican on the panel, as saying that ``Made in China has now become a warning label.'' Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who heads the subcommittee, said the commission has been neglected and underfunded, while Nancy Nord, acting chairman of the CPSC, said the agency's testing laboratory is housed in an outdated facility.China exported $7.5 billion worth of toys last year. The country accounts for nearly 87% of the toys imported by the U.S. On Tuesday, China signed an agreement to ban the use of lead paint on toys exported to the U.S.Toy maker RC2 Corp. (RCRC) and Hasbro Inc. (HAS) also recently recalled Chinese-made products. On June 13, RC2 voluntarily recalled 1.5 million wooden railroad toys and set parts, belonging to its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line, as the paint used on the surface contained lead. Next month, fuelled by reports of second- and third-degree burns to children, Hasbro recalled Chinese-made Easy Bake ovens.Stock MovementMAT closed Wednesday's regular trade at $22.82, up $0.92 or 4.20% from the previous close, on 8.93 million shares. In the extended trade, the stock added 48 cents and was at $23.30. For the past year, the stock moved between $20.00 and $29.71.
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May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.