Toxic toys sold everywhere

Counterfeit CR safety guarantee stamps are freely sold, so 90 percent of toys available on the market are Chinese and many contain toxic substances.

Areas specializing in children’s toys in HCM City were bustling last weekend, even though on September 15 the HCM City Market Control Sub-department inspected and seized a lot of toys without the CR safety guarantee stamps. Children’s toys with no CR stamps are still hawked everywhere in Vietnam.

According to Nguoi lao dong newspaper, many products have CR stamps, but are counterfeit. The counterfeit CR stamps are sold, for instance, at Binh Tay Market at tens of thousands of dong per set of one hundred.

A lot of toy shops can even provide the counterfeit stamps to toy buyers, so they can stick the stamps on the toys themselves if inspectors arrive.

Tuyet, the owner of a toy shop on Ngo Nhan Tinh street, explained that she cannot stick CR stamps on all the toys, so only the display items bear the stamps. The products for wholesale do not have any stamps yet.

Small merchants at Binh Tay Market maintained that the market control sub-department officers only made inspection tours on September 15, so they no longer need to affix CR stamps to deal with the examiners.

At retail shops, most toys do not have CR stamps. At bookstores, supermarkets and shopping malls, only several products have stamps, while others are called “plain products.”

According to Hoang Lam, Deputy Director of the Quality Assurance And Testing Centre 3 (Quatest 3), the recent tests showed that up to ten consignments with 20,000 product items sourced form Taiwan and China possessed toxic materials.

Lam added that, in fact, imported toxic toys have appeared on Vietnam’s market for a long time. Quatest 3 found toxic substances in them starting 10 years ago, especially additives used in plastics products to increase their pliability. If the substance is used in a higher-than-allowed dosage, it can damage the kidneys, and liver. These chemicals are also unsafe for pregnant women and can harm their fetus.

Recently, an independent institution that specializes in inspecting and assessing products examined toys sourced from China. They released a report, affirming that the products contained higher-than-allowed phthalates levels.

Cheap Chinese contraband toys now account for 80-90 percent of the market share. The products are made of recycled plastics and many toxic addictives. The use of industrial colours containing many kinds of heavy metals can also harm people’s health.

Dang Van Duc, Head of the HCM City Market Control Sub-department, has affirmed that examinations will continue. Duc lamented that his sub-department cannot make large-scale inspections, but can only focus on some big trading areas. Contraband toys are not forbidden, so they cannot confiscate and destroy them. Agencies can only temporarily seize the products for testing. If the products can meet quality standards, agencies must let the products be sold.

Consumer electric goods also don’t have CR stamps

At supermarkets and home appliance centres, many products available here have been found as having no CR stamps, though stamps are required for six types of products.

Meanwhile, at traditional markets, most products do not have stamps. Thai Van Tong, the owner of a home appliance shop on Kim Bien Market area in District 5, HCM City, remarked that most products have no clear origins, so he cannot come to government agencies to ask for stamps. Meanwhile, in the case of products with clear origins, suppliers have also refused to accept the products back to be stamped – Nguoi lao dong

Tags: Toxic toys