China Lists Substandard Wal-Mart, Carrefour Goods

Beijing, China has published a blacklist of substandard toy jugs and children’s shoes sold at Wal-Mart stores and drawing pens from French retailer Carrefour in a quality sweep on children’s goods sold at Beijing supermarkets, according to a Reuters report.

China has been buffeted by food, drug and other product-safety scares in past months. More than 20 million toys made there have been recalled worldwide over the past four months.

In response, Beijing has promised to crack down on faulty manufacturers and suppliers, but also said much responsibility lies with foreign regulators and buyers. It has also made a point of naming foreign companies it claims also have problem products.

A Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokesman, Jonathan Dong, said the blacklist—which appeared on an official Web site on Thursday—was more than two months old and the products, made in China, had long been cleared from the shelves.

The 54-item blacklist included substandard children’s glasses, toothbrushes, building blocks, and bikes with shoddy brakes and handlebars, at a number of Chinese retailers.

Last week, Wal-Mart was one of 20 companies sued by the California attorney general and Los Angeles city attorney for manufacturing or selling toys with unlawfully high levels of lead.