Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- India has set up a panel to prescribe more stringent standards for the permissible level of hazardous substances, including lead, in toys.
The panel will “very soon come up with recommendations,” junior industry minister Ashwani Kumar said in parliament today.
The plan to toughen the safety standards comes after a spate of recalls of Chinese-made toys by companies such as Mattel Inc. India on Jan. 23 banned imports of Chinese-made toys for six months, saying they were a hazard to public health. Mattel recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made toys in 2007.
The imported toys contained more lead than admissible, Kumar said today. The new rules will specify the quantities of hazardous substances that will be permissible and make the law more enforceable, he said.
The U.S. Congress last year passed the first overhaul of consumer protection laws in almost two decades after millions of Chinese-made toys were recalled because of excessive lead content.
India said it’s ready to discuss its ban on imports of Chinese toys after China said the block will have a “serious impact” on bilateral trade relations.
Asia’s second-biggest economy will probably ask the World Trade Organization to investigate the Indian ban, the official China Daily newspaper reported Feb. 5.
More than 4,000 Chinese toy companies closed last year because of waning demand and tighter safety standards, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Feb. 7.
Source : www.bloomberg.com