Toys Standards
Implemented
·
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Conducts 12
Search and Seizure Operations this year to Ensure Implementation of Toys Quality
Control Order 2020
Safety
of Toys is under compulsory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification from
1st Jan 2021 according to the Toys (Quality Control) Order, 2020 issued by the Department
for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under Section 16 of the BIS
Act, 2016. The Toys QCO shall apply to (Toys) Product or material designed or clearly
intended, whether or not exclusively, for use in play by children under 14 years
of age or any other product as notified by the Central Government from time to time.
Accordingly, it is compulsory for toys to conform to the corresponding Indian Standards for Safety of Toys and
to bear Bureau of Indian Standards Standard Mark under a license from BIS as per
Scheme-I of Schedule-II of BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018.
As
per this Quality Control Order, read with Section 17 of the BIS Act, no person shall
manufacture, import, distribute, sell, hire, lease, store or exhibit for sale any
toys without the ISI mark as per this QCO read with the BIS Act, 2016. Under the
BIS Product Certification Scheme i.e. Scheme-I of Schedule
–II of the BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018, License is granted to
manufacturing units to use the Standard Mark on the product as per the relevant
Indian Standards. Accordingly, Toy manufacturing units including foreign manufacturing
units exporting toys to India are required to obtain BIS license for safety of toys.
Violations are punishable with fine and/or imprisonment under BIS Act, 2016.
BIS
acts upon the complaints related to violation of Quality Control Orders of Toys
by certain manufacturers/sellers/importers etc. Action on these complaints involves
discreet investigation for verification of genuineness of information followed by
Search and Seizure and launch of prosecution against the offender for violation
of provisions of BIS Act, 2016. Apart from this, proactive enforcement to prevent
violation of Quality Control Orders of Toys is also done through market surveillance
activities by BIS Branch/Regional Offices.
Details
of Search and Seizure Operations carried out by BIS to ensure implementation of
Toys Quality Control Order 2020 are as under:
|
Year |
Search and Seizure Operations
conducted |
|
2021-22 |
40 |
|
2022-23 |
74 |
|
2023-24 (up to 11th December 2023) |
12 |
As
per the provisions of BIS Product Certification Scheme, BIS grants license to manufacturing
units to use BIS Standard Mark (ISI Mark) on their product based on assessment of
their capability to produce toys according to the Indian Standards through factory
visit(s) and testing of product as per Indian Standards. BIS also conducts market
and factory surveillance to ensure that the ISI marked toys available to the consumers
are conforming to the Indian Standards, under which samples of toys are drawn from
the manufacturing unit(s) (factories) and from the market and tested in BIS Labs
and BIS Recognized Labs according to the Indian Standards.
This
information was given by the Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food
& Public Distribution, Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply on 20
December, 2023 in the Lok Sabha.