ComMin taking steps to ensure import, sale of quality toys in India

The Commerce and Industry Ministry is taking steps including making it mandatory for consignment based testing to ensure import and sale of quality toys in the country, an official said. The ministry is also looking at stricter quality control norms for the toys industry by explicitly stating the definition of toys to minimize evasion from compliance, the official added.

Quality control order on toys is one of the ways to stop the flow of cheap sub-standard toys in the market. To ensure the import of quality toys, the ministry has said that samples will now be randomly picked from each import consignment and will be sent to NABL accredited labs for testing and clearance.

If the sample fails to meet the required standards, the consignment will be sent back or will be destroyed at the cost of importer. These measures are being implemented on the back of a study conducted by the Quality Council of India.

According to the study, about 67 percent of toys failed all safety and standard tests, while about 30 percent of plastic toys failed to meet the safety standards of admissible levels of heavy metals and phthalates. Similarly, 80 percent of these toys failed on mechanical and physical safety properties.

In the case of soft toys, 45 percent failed on admissible levels of phthalates and 75 percent of electric toys failed on mechanical standards. The toy industry in India is primarily in the unorganized sector, comprising about 4,000 small and medium enterprises.

About 85 percent of toys are imported in the country, with the maximum coming from China. It is followed by Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Germany, Hongkong, and the US.