Obama proposes U.S. ban on China-made toys

CONCORD, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said on Wednesday he would ban all toys made in China after a series of safety scares, and he called for tougher U.S. inspections of Chinese imports.

"I would stop the import of all toys from China. Now, I have to say that that's about 80 percent of toys that are being imported right now," the Illinois senator told voters in New Hampshire, which helps kick off the 2008 White House race.

Many American parents are weighing up the hazards of Chinese products while buying their children toys for Christmas next week, following recalls of millions of Chinese-made toys for lead paint and other hazards such as small magnets.

Scandals involving imported products ranging from toothpaste to pet food and fish have added to the scrutiny of Chinese goods. Beijing has acknowledged some problems but insists foreign media have hyped the issue.

"We have the power right now to set up our own inspection systems in China," said Obama, who is in a tight race with Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York according to polls.

"The Japanese do this on food, they basically say to China, you cannot import food unless you meet our safety inspectors. They sent Japanese inspectors to China, set up the testing system, and oversee and make sure that every single bite of food that is sent into from China has been tested," he said.

"We don't do that," Obama added at a campaign stop in Concord, capital of New Hampshire, whose January 8 primary vote is the second of the state-by-state battles to pick Democratic and Republican candidates for the election on November 4, 2008.

A watchdog group, Public Citizen, said in a report on Wednesday that more than 87 percent of U.S. toys are imported, a dramatic shift from the 1970s when almost 90 percent of them were produced domestically.

It blamed a torrent of toy recalls this year in part on U.S. trade agreements encouraging American toymakers to cut costs by shifting production overseas.

Obama attributed much of the problem to budget and staff cuts at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission during the Bush administration.

"We have just a handful of people who are inspecting all the toys that are flooding into the country," he said. "The big toy makers now manufacture in China and import here and they have put pressure to resist a strong regulatory system."

(Additional reporting by Karey Wutkowski in Washington, writing by Jason Szep, editing by David Alexander and David Wiessler)