Peru seizes 60 tonnes of Chinese toys believed tainted

LIMA (AFP) - Peruvian police announced yesterday it had seized more than 60 tonnes of Chinese toys smuggled from Chile believed to contain toxic, lead-based products that were about to be sold in Lima markets.

"Operation Toys Against Death" on Thursday raided a warehouse in Lima full of Chinese-made toys from China, Malaysia and Taiwan that had been smuggled across the border from Chile, Police chief Walter Rivera told reporters.

"The toys show signs of having been made with toxic substances such as lead," he said, adding that the health ministry was analyzing the products.

The police chief said the raid in central Lima was based on police intelligence work.

Health scares have swirled around a range of Chinese-made exports, from toys painted with lead-based paints, toxic toothpaste ingredients to faulty tires, pet food and seafood.

In the United States there have been several recent recalls of Chinese-made toys, including 970,000 toys recalled last month by Fisher-Price, and 1.5 million wooden "Thomas the Train" figures by RC2 Corp.

In Peru, Chinese-made toys have steadily increased their share of Peru's toy market from 56.5 percent in 2000 to 78.1 percent last year, when the imports were valued at 45.4 million dollars, according to a study by the Catholic University's Business Center.

Earlier this week, Peru recalled all Fisher-Price toys in Peru after the US distributor announced its recall of Chinese toys in the United States.

China said Wednesday it was spending more than a billion dollars to strengthen the supervision of its food and drug industries.