Amid two high-profile toy recalls this summer, Mattel Inc. has said its highest priority is protecting children by pulling defective products off store shelves as soon as hazards emerge, the Wall Street Journal reports

But the company’s own definition of such a timely response differs sharply from the government’s — as Mattel openly acknowledges. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says that manufacturers must report all claims of potentially hazardous product defects within 24 hours, with few exceptions.

Mattel, in at least three major cases since the late 1990s — including last month’s recall of nearly 18 million playsets studded with potentially dangerous magnets — took months to gather information. In two of the cases, it collected scores of complaints for months before disclosing them to the agency.

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