Govt seizes 18,600 toys from Hamleys, Archies over lack of quality mark, fake licence

The government on Thursday said that 18,600 toys have been seized in the last one month from outlets of major retail stores like Hamleys and Archies, among others, at airports and malls across the country for not meeting quality standards and using fake licence.

Apart from the retail stores, notices have been issued to e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart for alleged violation of the quality norms of toys. Further, customs officials have also been asked to check the imported toys from a quality perspective.

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The crackdown on low-quality toys follows an order two years ago that made it mandatory for toy manufacturers to meet the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) safety norms. According to the norms, the toys manufactured, imported, sold or exhibited for sale needed to have a mandatory BIS quality mark as well.

In the last one month, the government has conducted 44 raids on major retail stores to check low-quality toys and those with fake licence numbers.

“A nationwide enforcement drive was conducted by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) against outlets selling toys without valid BIS licence. Toys in huge numbers were seized during the raids undertaken at 25 outlets across the country,” BIS said in a tweet.

As per the BIS Act, violation of quality norms invites initial penalties to the tune of `1 lakh and a major violation will also lead to a jail term.

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In 2020, the government had increased the basic customs duty on toys to 60% from 20% in order to reduce imports. Further, it also made sample testing of each import consignment mandatory to stop sub-standard toys from entering the industry.

Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also laid emphasis on the domestic toy industry. He said the local toy industry has achieved immense success and the country could save crores of rupees through its focus on the toy sector.

As per the government data, the export of toys from the country increased by 240% to $326.6 million in FY22 from $96.17 million in FY15, whereas the imports have dropped by approximately 67% to $109.72 million in FY22 from $332.55 million in FY15.