Most of the recalls of toys made in China are because of design errors, not manufacturing problems, concludes a report by two Canadian business professors.

University of Manitoba business professor Hari Bapuji and University of Western Ontario international business professor Paul W. Beamish analyzed Chinese-made toy recalls by going through recalls issued by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from 1988 to August, 2007.

"Initially, I wanted to see if there really had been an increase in recalls from China," Bapuji told CTV.ca by telephone from Winnipeg.

He and Beamish found that indeed, the recalls from China have been growing in recent years. Only three per cent of toys recalled in 1988 came from China. By 2004, that number had exploded to 87 per cent. And 95 per cent all toy recalls this year involved Chinese-made toys.

At the same time, China has supplanted Taiwan as the leader in toy making, now manufacturing close to 90 per cent of the toys exported to Canada and the U.S.

This year is expected to see an especially high number of total toy recalls. There have already been 40 initiated this year by the CPSC, and if current trends continue, there could be 56 recalls in 2007, concludes the report. That's a significant jump from the 33 toy recalls last year.

But when Bapuji and Beamish looked further, they found that many of the problems that triggered those recalls had nothing to do with Chinese manufacturing. Instead, they were the result of design errors made by the toymaker.

Of the 550 toy recalls since 1988, 76.4 per cent were due to problems that could be attributed to design flaws. Among those flaws were errors such as strings that were too long and presented a choking hazard, small parts that easily fell off, or eyes that were glued on stuffed toys rather than stitched.

In contrast, only about 10 per cent were attributable to manufacturing defects, such as poor craftsmanship, lead paint and inappropriate raw materials. (With the rest, the authors couldn't determine if the problem lay with design or manufacturing.)

The report points out that when Mattel recalled 20 million toys this past August, 80 per cent of the toys were pulled were because they contained small magnets, which is a design flaw. But Bapuji says all of the media focus has been on the lead paint issue. He says Canadian consumers should instead be demanding better of their toy makers.

"We should be asking the toy makers: 'Are you guys learning from the errors that you are making? What are your systems to test? What are your systems to make sure that an error doesn't get repeated in the future?'" Bapuji says.

"We have been placing blame on manufacturers in China. I don't say that is wrong; that is right. But what would be more right would be to apportion the blame and realize that historically, design flaws are the reason we have a large number of recalls."

The report, to be published by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, acknowledges that not all products manufactured in China are safe.

"On the contrary, products such as pet food and toothpaste made in China have contained dangerous substances. The Chinese government and industry groups need to address this by ensuring that Chinese exporters adhere to the standards of the importing country," the report reads.

Bapuji believes part of the recent problems has stemmed from the fact that Chinese manufacturers are simply not aware of the expectations of the export market.

"They really have no idea that something like this is a big issue for us here," he says.

What's more, the growth of manufacturing has far exceeded the growth in education and availability of skilled labour. Those who run manufacturing plants in China are often ignorant of product safety standards of Canada and the U.S. But that is not altogether their fault, Bapuji believes.

"Companies like Mattel have a responsibility to ensure that the products that they bring to China to be manufactured are safe and conform to the standards of this part of the world. They cannot simply escape the blame by saying 'It's the manufacturer in China'."