No Chinese toymaker has BIS licence: Official

NEW DELHI: As many as 160 Chinese toymakers have approached the Bureau of Indian Standards for the BIS certification mark ISI in the past two years, however none of them has been granted the BIS licence, a top official said.

"No Chinese toy manufacturer has been granted a BIS licence till date," said BIS Director General Pramod Kumar Tiwari addressing a press conference. The event was organised on Friday evening on the occasion of 76th Foundation Day of the BIS.

Tiwari said, "Not a single Chinese company has a licence to import toys from China to India, nor any Chinese companies have applied for a license to import toys from China after India made it mandatory to take a licence from BIS to import toys from any country to India from January 1, 2021."

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has conducted countrywide raids at toy outlets at airports and malls, said officials on Friday.

"If you come across any seller selling a made in China toy then you can register a complaint with the BIS," said Tiwari while responding to a query. He also said that if people found any 'made in China' toys anywhere in the country they should immediately inform BIS and action will be taken as per the law.

"We had started the search at shops situated at Airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru and other major airports across the country. We also conducted a search at several malls. This search will continue throughout this month," he said.

The Director General further said that during the raids BIS found substandard toys made in China. He said that the preliminary investigation revealed that some elements were involved in smuggling substandard toys from China to India.

Tiwari also said that cases have found that toys are being imported from China under the name of chocolates. The BIS has given licences to 982 domestic manufacturers in India and only 29 licences were given to foreign manufacturers from majorly countries such as Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Czechoslovakia, etc. Of the 29 licences to foreign countries, Vietnam companies have 14 licences.