Industry experts say U.S. companies need to monitor overseas factories more closely to prevent product safety lapses.

CNN

"U.S. law is pretty clear. The importer is responsible for quality and safety of goods imported into the country," said Erin Ennis, vice president with the U.S.-China Business Council. "But the Chinese can absolutely do more to prevent safety issues."

Pat Furey, a consultant with Ariba, a global supply chain software and service consultancy that also operates in China, agreed that more effort has to be made by companies like Mattel to clamp down on shoddy production of its products overseas.

"About 10 to 15 years ago, it was a common thing for most companies importing from overseas, including from China, to do their own batch-testing of products at their suppliers' factories," Furey said.

But due to cost-savings, he said these companies started to outsource periodic product tests to the suppliers themselves, thereby opening the door to poorer quality controls......