KEY POINTS:
Anyone found selling toys with excessive amounts of lead in the paint will face a fine of up to $200,000 from today.
Consumer Affairs Minister Judith Tizard said the Government was regulating for a "safe" amount of lead after worldwide recalls by toymaker Mattel of toys made in China last month.
Mattel revealed yesterday some of its recalled toys, including Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer characters, contained nearly 200 times the amount of lead in paint allowed by United States law.
If ingested, lead paint can cause irritability and lethargy. Higher doses can lead to learning disabilities and death.
In New Zealand, the recall included 285 Barbie playsets, although the amount of lead in those is not known.
Ms Tizard said yesterday that the Unsafe Goods Notice (Lead in Children's Toys) was issued as a precautionary measure to ensure children's safety.
However, the industry body for toy distributors in New Zealand said it was difficult to see how the measures would advance issues of toy safety.
The ban will be effective for 18 months as an interim step until the Government introduces a mandatory standard.
It will limit the permissible amount of lead, and other toxic metals, in toys in line with international standards.
Similar action is also being taken today by the Australian Government and Ms Tizard said the ministry was working closely with its Australian counterparts.
"Regulating the limits on lead migration from toys will also clarify the safe limits for retailers and importers," Ms Tizard said.
Dean Underwood, president of the NZ Toy Distributors Inc, said there was already a safety standard that had been "widely accepted, understood and followed" by the industry since May 2003.
"It should not be lost sight of that the products involved (in recalls) represent just a tiny fraction of the global toy market, which by and large has an excellent record on safety," Mr Underwood said.
However, Mr Underwood agreed the new standards would provide a more reliable system making it more likely that flawed products would be detected well before they arrived into the country.
Sue Chetwin, chief executive of the Consumer's Institute, said the move to ban toys and to develop a standard should restore consumer confidence in toy safety.
"However, if anyone has any doubts when buying toys, they should not hesitate to ask retailers whether what they are selling meets international standards."
Customers were protected under the Consumer Guarantees Act which said goods must be of acceptable quality and be safe, Ms Chetwin said.
