Govt plans stricter norms for imported ‘toxic’ toys

The Rs 2,000-2,500 crore Indian toy industry has come a long way in the last ten years but is still far from outplaying China, which sold toys worth $7.1 billion between January and October 2007 in the global markets. In September this year, government had banned import of Chinese dairy products for three months owing to contamination of milk from China.

Of the total size of the toy industry, about Rs 1,000 crore is in organised sector and the remaining is in the unorganised sector, according to the Toy Association of India, which represents more than 500 members, including dealers and manufacturers. The association president Vishnu Swarup Aggarwal told The Indian Express that printed and pigmented toys were particularly problematic. “We should prevent harmful toys from China and certification be made mandatory to ensure they are lead- and chromium-free. No unsafe toy should find its way into a child’s hands.” He, however said, it would not be proper to say that all China-made toys were harmful. Making it clear that government would have zero tolerance on the matter, the circular says, “In case, it is found that the importers are unable to fulfill the requirement of mandatory declarations under Rule 6 before clearance by customs for home consumption, the imported goods shall either be confiscated or allowed re-export only as well as necessary penal action taken against the importer.”

In fact, China’s credibility as the world’s toy factory has already taken a beating with global toy giant Mattel last year recalling more than 14 million toys from the market, mostly believed to be China-made. It recalled 2,000 toys from the Indian market from their Sesame Street series. The Bureau of Indian Standard has a booklet of voluntary standards but it has not found many readers in India. This is disturbing considering that the volume is Rs 4,500 crore in the organised sector. There are more than 1,000 units in the small-scale sector and a larger number in cottage industry.

China exported an estimated over 22 billion toys in the international market in 2006 and till October last year, it sold toys worth $7.1 billion, mostly in the US and European markets. Chinese toys account for 50 per cent of the Rs 2,500-crore toy market and almost 80 per cent of the Chinese toys are sold untested.