Starting Sept. 1, 2020, imported toys will be allowed in India only after complying with mandatory quality checks, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said Friday.
The government is in the process of making quality standards mandatory for 371 tariff lines—including steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electrical machinery and furniture—to check shipments of sub-standard and non-essential goods, including from China.
The Bureau of Indian Standards is the government's nodal agency that frames quality standards in coordination with the concerned ministries.
"The mandatory quality control standards for toys will be implemented from Sept. 1. BIS staff will be deployed at major ports to take the samples and test the product for quality," Paswan told reporters in New Delhi. The QCS for steel, chemicals, electronic goods and heavy machinery as well as for food items like packaged water and milk products are in the process, he said.
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According to BIS Director General Pramod Kumar Tiwari, the implementation of the QCS for each product is being decided by the concerned ministry. For instance, the mandatory gold standard will come into force from June 2021. So far, 268 standards have been mandatory in the country and many are in the pipeline, he added.
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Quality checks are done at two levels: the first is at the source itself, wherein BIS officials go for physical inspection of a factory, and the second is done after the shipment lands in India.
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