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.