BIS raids airports, ports & malls, seizes non-certified Chinese toys

NEW DELHI: Cracking down on illegal import of Chinese toys, which are not compliant to the BIS norms, the standards authority has started carrying out raids across major airports, ports and shopping malls. While 160 Chinese toy manufacturers have applied for BIS certification, none has got the certification so far.
“Sub-standard and non-BIS certified toys have been seized during these raids. We started the raids after receiving complaints from domestic players that Chinese toys are being imported in the guise of chocolates, gifts and other items. No Chinese toy manufacturer has been granted a BIS licence till date,” said Pramod Kumar Tiwari, director general of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Speaking at Foundation Day celebrations of the body, Union minister Piyush Goyal said BIS should increase market surveillance and efforts should be made to make people quality conscious.

Earlier Tiwari said the licences to Chinese toy manufacturers have not been issued as BIS has not been able to complete inspection of the factories in China due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and health concerns. He said neither the applicants invited them for inspection nor the BIS scientists could visit China because of the pandemic.
The BIS chief said raids have been conducted at airports in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Pune. The drive will continue for next one month. Import, manufacturing, storage and sale of non-BIS compliant toys has been banned in the country since January 2021 since it issued Quality Control Order (QCO).
Tiwari said about 1,000 toy manufacturers have got BIS licences in India and out of these, 982 are domestic manufacturers.
The remaining 29 are foreign companies. “People can register a complaint with the BIS, if they come across any seller selling a ‘Made in China’ toys,” Tiwari said. Nearly half of the foreign toy-makers in India are from Vietnam, BIS officials said.