There are two ways of looking at it. The Union government in India has banned all toys being manufactured in India for any import to India. We
may talk about the supposed reasons later but can we ask two simple questions. What about people in India who were importing from factories owned by companies in the United Kingdom, Italy, France or the United States but stationed in China to save costs?
These factories always followed international safety norms and should be relied upon when making a bulk import. Two, is it more safe or less safe to import toys which have been imported by companies in Vietnam, Thailand or Indonesia from the same factories in China that the government is trying to ban? Does this make any sense?
Currently, the ban on Chinese toys has happened from January 25 for a 6-month period. Is this ban with a view to safeguard domestic industry? If so, then why only six months? Is there any other hidden agenda at some end, which we have not been able to find out in having a six-month ban? Will someone's goose be cooked and eaten by the time these six months are over? We don't know.
We all agree that other than basic teddy bears, there is no comparable product available in India that was imported from China, of the design and product quality required.
Toys have categories, such as plastic toys, dolls, plush toys, toys of educational nature, garden toys etc. Toys could be categorized in many ways. The first which is obvious to the buyer is in terms of price. So you have radio-controlled cars and planes worth Rs 50,000 each to basic and static plastic toys worth Rs 50, attractive only for their shape and colour and maybe for the thing they represent.
Now we wonder, was the ban only for keeping out toxic products from China. Well, if that was indeed the reason, most companies in India who make toys import the plush fabric or other stuff from China and uses them in their own factories here. The same filling is used by other industries such as furnishings such as sofas etc. It is also used by companies making quilts and blankets, which kids nibble while asleep and lie in throughout the night when they are most vulnerable.
Well, we would like to believe that our government has more intelligence than that and discount the fact that everything about the ban was done in an ad-hoc and slip-shod manner.
So this begs the questions : Why have a blanket ban? Why not implement rules that are already in place with regards to safety standards?
For one thing, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union already have safety guidelines in place for each category of toy. These same guidelines are actually in place at our port and air customs as well, which requires certain tests to be carried out on the import of a toy.
So won't it be more just and equitable for the government to make sure that the government departments such as the Customs carry out these rules? These rules are good enough for citizens of advanced countries; they can be applied to imports to India as well.
Source : The Economic Times