The government on Friday said it has not yet issued a mandatory quality certificate to around 160 Chinese companies for selling toys in India, and the delay is due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
From January 2021, India has made it mandatory to get the quality certification mark of 'ISI' from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for the sale of toys in the country.
"Around 160 Chinese toy companies have applied for the BIS quality certification in the last two years. We have not yet issued to them in view of the COVID-19 pandemic," BIS Director General Pramod Kumar Tiwari told reporters.
Normally, the BIS quality certification is issued after an inspection of the factories. Due to the pandemic restrictions and health concerns, the BIS officials could not visit China, he said.
"Neither they invited us for inspection nor we could visit China because of the pandemic," Tiwari said.
In the last two years, Tiwari said the BIS has granted the quality certificate to 29 foreign toy makers, out of which 14 are from Vietnam.
The BIS has also issued the quality certificate to 982 Indian toy makers in the same period, he added.
The BIS has been conducting enforcement raids in the last few days at major airports and malls across the country for violation of toy quality control orders.
Tiwari said consumers can complain if they find illegal 'made in China' toys are sold in the country.