Endorsing the general concern on imported toys containing toxic and poisonous materials flooding the country, the government has decided to subject such toys to a stricter scrutiny by mandating that they would have to conform to the provisions of Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules 1977, failing which such consignments would be confiscated and importers penalised.

“There has been a great concern about sub-standard toys containing toxic and poisonous materials being imported into the country, the Board (Central Board of Excise and Customs) reiterates that import of all pre-packaged commodities inter alia, import of toys in packaged form, shall be subjected to compliance of all the provisions of the Standards of Weights and Measures (Packaged Commodities) Rules 1977,” the finance ministry’s Central Board of Excise and Customs said in a recent circular.

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.”

... contd.