Lok Sabha Question No. 2896 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-20
Subject: BIS Certification for Toys
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: L.S. Tejasvi Surya

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2896 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20.12.2023

## BIS CERTIFICATION FOR TOYS

2896. SHRI L.S. TEJASVI SURYA:

Will  the  Minister  of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any steps have been taken to ensure that all toys meant for children under the age of 14, have BIS certification;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether any violations have been reported with regard to the defects or risks of such toys and if so, the details thereof along with the action taken on these complaints; and
- (d) the details of the plans taken by the Government to strengthen the monitoring and enforcement of toy safety regulations further in order to protect the well-being of children across the country?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h ( श्री अश्विनी कु मार चौबे )

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) & (b)  : Safety  of  Toys  is  under  compulsory  Bureau  of  Indian  Standards  (BIS)  certification from 1st Jan 2021 according to the Toys (Quality Control) Order, 2020 issued by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under Section 16 of the BIS Act, 2016. The Toys QCO  shall  apply  to  (Toys)  Product  or  material  designed  or  clearly  intended,  whether  or  not exclusively, for use in play by children under 14 years of age or any other product as notified by the Central  Government  from  time  to  time.  Accordingly,  it  is  compulsory  for  toys  to  conform  to  the corresponding   Indian Standards for Safety of Toys and to bear Bureau of Indian Standards Standard Mark  under  a  license  from  BIS  as  per  Scheme-I  of  Schedule-II  of  BIS  (Conformity  Assessment) Regulations, 2018.

As  per  this  Quality  Control  Order,  read  with  Section  17  of  the  BIS  Act,  no  person  shall manufacture, import, distribute, sell, hire, lease, store or exhibit for sale any toys without the ISI mark as  per  this  QCO  read  with  the  BIS  Act,  2016.    Under  the  BIS  Product  Certification  Scheme  i.e. Scheme-I of Schedule -II of the BIS (Conformity Assessment) Regulations, 2018, License is granted to manufacturing units to use the Standard Mark on the product as per the relevant Indian Standards. Accordingly, Toy manufacturing units including foreign manufacturing units exporting toys to India are  required  to  obtain  BIS  license  for  safety  of  toys.    Violations  are  punishable  with  fine  and/or imprisonment under BIS Act, 2016.

(c) : BIS acts upon the complaints related to violation of Quality Control Orders of Toys by certain manufacturers/sellers/importers  etc.  Action  on  these  complaints  involves  discreet  investigation  for verification of genuineness of information followed by Search and Seizure and launch of prosecution against  the  offender  for  violation  of  provisions  of  BIS  Act,  2016.  Apart  from  this,  proactive enforcement  to  prevent  violation  of  Quality  Control  Orders  of  Toys  is  also  done  through  market surveillance activities by BIS Branch/Regional Offices.

Details of Search and Seizure Operations carried out by BIS to ensure implementation of Toys Quality Control Order 2020 are as under:

| Year                                |   Search and Seizure Operations conducted |
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
| 2021-22                             |                                        40 |
| 2022-23                             |                                        74 |
| 2023-24 (up to 11 th December 2023) |                                        12 |

(d)  : As per the provisions of BIS Product Certification Scheme, BIS grants license to manufacturing units to use BIS Standard Mark (ISI Mark) on their product based on assessment of their capability to produce toys according to the Indian Standards through factory visit(s) and testing of product as per Indian Standards. BIS also conducts market and factory surveillance to ensure that the ISI marked toys available to the consumers are conforming to the Indian Standards, under which samples of toys are drawn from the manufacturing unit(s) (factories) and from the market and tested in BIS Labs and BIS Recognized Labs according to the Indian Standards.

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