Toy imports drop by 70 pct in India during past 3 years

NEW DELHI, July 6 (Xinhua) -- India's toy import has decreased by 70 percent in the last three years, while exports have gone up by 61 percent, officials said on Wednesday.

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, for HS Codes 9503, 9504, and 9505, the import of toys to India has reduced from 371 million U.S. dollars in FY 2018-19 to 110 million U.S. dollars in FY 2021-22, thus showing a decrease of 70.35 percent.

"For the HS Code 9503, toy imports have decreased even faster, from 304 million U.S. dollars in FY 2018-19 to 36 million U.S. dollars in FY 2021-22," the ministry said in a statement.

The Harmonized System (HS) code is a standardized numerical method to classify export trade products by customs authorities around the world.

The ministry said during the same period the toy exports jumped by 61.38 percent.

"For HS Codes 9503, 9504, and 9505, the export of toys has increased from 202 million U.S. dollars in FY 2018-19 to 326 million in FY 2021-22, up by 61.39 percent. For HS Code 9503, exports of toys have increased from 109 million U.S. dollars in FY 2018-19 to 177 million U.S. dollars in FY 2021-22," the ministry data showed.

Anil Agrawal, additional secretary of the department for promotion of industry and internal trade, attributes the development to the government's interventions in the toy sector.

According to the ministry, the interventions by the government for the toy sector include mandatory sample quality testing of each consignment, bringing it under compulsory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification and an increase in customs duty.

BIS has granted 843 licenses to domestic manufacturers for the safety of toys, out of these, 645 licenses have been granted for non-electric toys and 198 licenses granted for electric toys. In addition to this, six licenses have been granted to international toy manufacturers, the ministry said.

The 13th edition of Toy Biz B2B (Business to Business) International exhibition was held at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi on July 2-5.

"Ninety-six exhibitors have showcased the diverse product category ranging from traditional plush toys, construction equipment toys, dolls, building block toys, board games, puzzles, electronic toys, educational toys, ride-ons, etc. All the toys products were made-in-India products manufactured domestically by small, medium and large enterprises," the ministry said.