India has revised its import policy for toys, effective December 2, 2019. The new policy, published as Notification No. 33/2015-2020, amends the previous set of requirements published in Notification No. 26/2015-2020 in September 2017.
The set of requirements published in 2017 contained, inter alia, two important provisions:
- 1) Requiring certification that confirms toys conform to the correct Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS):
- IS 9873-1 ‘Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties’
- IS 9873-2 ‘Flammability’
- IS 9873-3 ‘Migration of Certain elements’
- IS 9873-4 ‘Swings, slides and similar activities – toys for indoor and outdoor family domestic use’
- IS 9873-7 ‘Requirements and test methods for finger paints’
- IS 9873-9 ‘Certain phthalates esters in toys and children’s products’
- IS 15644 ‘Electric toys’
- 2) A Certificate of Conformance (CoC) indicating that toys have been tested by a laboratory that is accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)
Notification No. 33/2015-2020 amends this import policy and includes two important provisions:
- Point 2 (above) is replaced with ‘sending randomly selected samples from each consignment to an NABL accredited lab for testing to determine clearance for Customs’
- Adding new import policy for toys/dolls and other similar recreational products
In essence, the primary import policy change is that the statement, “imported toys have to be tested by an NABL accredited lab’, has been replaced with “randomly selected samples from each consignment for testing in NABL accredited labs for clearance”. Testing by a NABL laboratory is therefore no longer mandatory for toys being imported to India.
The new policy became effective upon publication of the notification in the Indian Gazette – December 2, 2019. Stakeholders are advised to now check they are in compliance with the latest importation policy covering toy/dolls and other similar recreational products into India.
SGS Toy & Juvenile Product Services
SGS offers a wide range of services to ensure that products comply with relevant standards for childcare articles and children’s equipment. They provide consulting, training, product development, testing, audit and inspection services to ensure that products comply with strict regulations worldwide, demonstrating the safety and quality of juvenile products being brought to the market. Learn more about SGS’s Toy & Juvenile Product Services.
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