CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND RETAIL E-SSENTIALS

India: Challenges on toy imports remain

JANUARY 2020 - TOYS PRODUCTS

On 2 December 2019, the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry published a Notification¹ amending the toy import policy under the Policy Condition No.2 to Chapter 95 of ITC (HS), 2017-Schedule-1. The new policy came into effect immediately since the day of publication of this notification in the Indian Gazette.

Since September 2017, India required toys imported² under codes 95030010, 95030020, 95030030 and 95030090 should be accompanied with a certificate demonstrating the toys conform to the standards prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)³. In addition, a Certificate of Conformance (CoC) from the manufacturer that toys have been tested by a laboratory which is accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL).

According to the new import policy, the requirement of a certificate that toys conform to BIS standards remain. The CoC is now revoked, and toys are not mandatory to be tested in a NABL accredited lab before shipment. However, sample will be randomly picked from each consignment and sent to NABL accredited labs for testing. Customs give the clearance only when the testing is passed. Otherwise, the consignment will be sent back or destroyed at the cost of importer.

The toy BIS standards specified in Policy Condition No.2 of Chapter 95 is as follows:

1. IS 9873-1 Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties
2. IS 9873-2 Flammability
3. IS 9873-3 Migration of Certain elements
4. IS 9873-4 Swings, slides and similar activities - toys for indoor and outdoor family domestic use
5. IS 9873-7 Requirements and test methods for finger paints
6. IS 9873-9 Certain phthalates esters in toys and children’s products
7. IS 15644 Electric toys

[1] The Notification No.33/2015-2020

[2] The Notification No. 26/2015-2020

[3] Bureau of Indian Standards portal