A lot of doubt regarding the safety levels of toys made in China is bothering people all over the world. The doubts were raised after it was found in US that the paint on the plastic of pre-school toys contained more than the permissible quantity of lead. Almost 83 types of toys made in China were recalled. Following the cue, many countries in Asia and Europe have removed the toys off their shelves. Already, around 1 million such toys have been sold all over US since May and the toys include popular characters like Big Bird, Elmo and Dora the Explorer.
Toy Trouble
The popular toy making company, Mattel, claimed that it was not aware of any such high content of lead in the paint and assured people it will look into the matter as quickly as possible. Though the company did not assure that further problems wouldn’t come up again, it said it will make sure that all other products are tested strictly for safety. Even though China will now be stricter about safety norms, expect the toys to cost more in order to cover-up the losses incurred during the recall.
Situation in India
If India bans all toys made in China, it would heavily impact its own toy industry. A lot of domestic manufacturers will have to close down, since the parts used are not of a very superior quality. If the BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) makes the laws more stringent, it will help in clearing out the Chinese toys, but at the same time, due to stringent laws, small manufacturers would have to close down. It is also not possible for India to make stringent laws just for imported toys, due to the WTO commitments. However, it is claimed that Indian toys are far more superior to Chinese toys. One can only wait and see what the government does about this issue.
