Beijing draws up incentives to encourage greater toy safety
Beijing is hammering out incentives for toy producers to meet safety standards, hoping to avoid another rash of international product recalls and further damage to the domestic industry's reputation.
Pending cabinet approval, the incentives are aimed at encouraging toymakers to enhance their safety and quality levels, Liu Xiang, a vice-director at the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said on the sidelines of the Hong Kong Toys and Games Fair yesterday.
Lifting safety standards would inevitably increase costs but would also ensure only safe products were sold, Mr Liu said.
The mainland's regulatory regime on toy safety and quality, which was implemented in August 2007, would be tightened further to shore up consumer confidence and meet international practices, he said.
'The mainland's regulatory regime for consumer products is still in its infancy,' he said. 'This means there is room for improvement.'
He added that safety regulations for mainland-made electronics goods and home electrical appliances were also in the making.
Since the summer of 2007, about 20,000 mainland-made toys had been recalled over safety hazards, with many found to contain toxic materials such as lead paint, Mr Liu said.
The United States and the European Union have since added safety and quality requirements for mainland-made toys and consumer goods.
The US is gradually implementing a new set of stringent rules designed to lower the levels of hazardous chemicals such as lead and phthalates used in toys and beef up oversight of products for children below the age of 12.
Richard O'Brien, director of the office of international programmes and intergovernmental affairs at the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, the agency behind toy recalls, said the rules mandated manufacturers to have samples of finished products tested by accredited laboratories.
'There are limits on the discretion and flexibility the commission has in administering the law,' Mr O'Brien said. 'Where there is flexibility, we are working at it; where we don't have many options, the industry needs to resign to the reality.'
Toys Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong executive vice-president Yeung Chi-kong estimated that complying with the new US rules alone would incur additional costs of at least 3 to 5 per cent, but said he had no intention of compromising on safety.
While welcoming the mainland's planned incentives for producers to lift safety standards, he said manufacturers should wake up to the fact that safety was the industry's No1 issue.
The Toys Manufacturers' Association estimated that at least 500 out of 3,500 Hong Kong-funded toy manufacturers in Guangdong had been forced out of business as a result of a string of product recalls in 2007, the new safety requirements, the global economic downturn and higher costs for labour, raw materials and product testing.
No child's play
Estimated number of Hong Kong-funded toymakers forced out of business: 500
