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Toys imported from China are sold in Ha Noi. Many substandard toys without CR stamps still flood the domestic market. — VNS Photo Truong Vi |
However, parents are concerned that most toys have not passed tested for safety and quality.
In HCM City, shops have plenty of Chinese battery-operated lanterns, remote controlled cars, planes, UFOs and even violent toys including guns using plastic bullets, luminous swords that imitate weapons used in popular online games.
Places where these toys are widely sold include Binh Tay Market in District 6, Nguyen Tri Phuong Makert in District 10 and Ba Chieu Market in Binh Thanh District.
In Ha Noi, several toy shops on Hang Ma, Cha Ca, Luong Van Can and Hang Luoc streets carry violent toys despite a government ban on the sale of violent toys.
Tran Van Vinh, deputy director of the Viet Nam Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality (STAMEQ), said local market watch teams and others would begin nationwide inspections of toys on September 15.
Toys that do not have proper documents and safety stamps will be seized and/or banned from sale, he said.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has regulated that as of June 1, toy producers and importers must ensure their products carry CR safety stamps.
However, the ministry has extended application of the regulation to September 15 to give toy producers and importers more time to apply for safety stamps.
Most locally made toys and officially imported toys have almost completed applying for the CR-coded safety stamps from competent agencies, Vinh said.
However, controls over the sale of toys have not been effective, with up to 80 per cent of toys sold in the market not having the required certificates of origin, he said.
Recent inspections have also found that several toys imported illegally from China contain lead and other toxic chemicals harmful to the health of children, he added.
China-made UFO toys, which are sold widely in Viet Nam, have been discovered to contain phthalates, a toxic substance added to plastics to increase their flexibility.
TUV Rheinland Viet Nam found that all the samples of China-made UFO toys that it tested had phthalates quantities exceeding the standard level.
Exposure to phthalates could cause a wide range of health and reproductive problems in people and the substance can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled. — VNS
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