New Delhi, July 5 (FN Agency) The import of toys in the country has come down by 70% in the last three years, an official statement said on Tuesday. The import of toys to India has reduced from USD 371 Mn in FY 2018-19 to USD 110 Mn in FY 2021-22 thus showing a decrease of 70.35 percent, the statement from Ministry of Commerce and Industry said. For HS Code 9503, toy imports have decreased even faster, from USD 304 Mn in FY 2018-19 to USD 36 Mn in FY 2021-22 for HS Code 9503. Additionally, the exports have jumped by 61.38% over the same period.
For HS Codes 9503, 9504, and 9505, the export of toys has increased from USD 202 Mn in FY 2018-19 to USD 326 Mn in FY 2021-22, up by 61.39 percent. For HS Code 9503, exports of Toys have increased from USD 109 Mn in FY 2018-19 to USD 177 Mn in FY 2021-22. Speaking to media during the 13th Edition of Toy Biz B2B (Business to Business) International Exhibition from 2-5 July 2022 at Pragati Maidan Additional Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Anil Agarwal said the industry had benefitted from a number of interventions by the government and results show the success of Make in India programme.
He said the imports were mainly restricted to some components of the toys. Basic Custom Duty (BCD) on Toys-HS Code-9503 was increased from 20% to 60% in February, 2020. The government had issued the Toys (Quality Control) Order, 2020 on February 25, 2020, through which toys were brought under compulsory Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification with effect from January 1, 2021. BIS granted 843 licenses to domestic manufacturers from safety of toys, out of them, 645 licenses were granted for non-electric toys and 198 licenses granted for electric toys. In addition to this, 6 licenses were granted to international toy manufacturers.