Govt to soon come out with stringent norms toy makers

The government will soon come out with stringent norms for manufacturers of domestic toys to ensure that they do not have any toxic substance in their products.

The government will soon come out with stringent norms for manufacturers of domestic toys to ensure that they do not have any toxic substance in their products.

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"...The process is under way and would soon be notified for domestic toy manufacturers," Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said, adding countries exporting toys to India would also have to meet the prescribed quality norms.

"You cannot have toxic toys domestically also," Pillai told reporters at an IIFT convocation in New Delhi on Monday.

The move assumes importance as China had complained that the quality restrictions imposed by India on Chinese toys are violating the WTO rule of treating all member countries alike.

India had placed a blanket ban on import of toys from China in 2008 for a period of six months. Later, the ban was partially lifted with New Delhi prescribing that toys which adhere to prescribed quality norms would be allowed.

However, during the visit of Chinese vice-minister of commerce Zhong Shan to India, he was assured by the Commerce Ministry that China's grievances would be addressed.

The industry experts, however, said that it would be difficult to implement quality norms on domestic industry as there are large number of cottage industries involved in making toys which cannot follow the regulations.

As per industry estimates, Chinese toys constitute more than 60 per cent of toys sold in India. The Indian toy industry is worth about Rs 2,500 crore.