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Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) and Consumers' Foundation, Chinese Taipei (CFCT) announce inspection results of clay toys

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Parents often buy clay toys for their children not only they are available in a variety of colors and can be molded into different shapes by hands, but also they can help children develop intelligence, hand-eye coordination, muscle strength, imagination and creativies. To ensure the quality of clay toys to protect children’s safety, the BSMI worked hand in hand with theCFCT to conduct an inspection on 20 randomly purchased clay toys from domestic retail stores and shopping websites in March 2019. Test results show that all sampled items complied the quality test and commodity inspection mark with inspection standards. Three items, however, failed in the Chinese labeling requirements.

Inspection standards
The inspection was carried out according to the CNS 4794 "Safety of toys (general requirement)" requirements on physical properties (including the safety of small parts, points and edges, projections and plastic film or plastic bag in packaging) and chemical properties (including the content of eight kinds of phthalates-DEP, DMP, DEHP, DBP, BBP, DINP, DIDP and DNOP-and their compound, as well as the dissolved concentration of migration elements-lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, arsenic, tin, antimony and barium). Meanwhile, Commodity inspection mark and Chinese labeling requirements were carried out according to the Commodity Inspection Act and the inspection standards.

Inspection results
1) Quality test:
1.1 Physical properties: all passed the requirements.
1.2 Chemical properties:
1.2.1 Contents of migration elements: all passed the requirements.
1.2.2 Contents of eight phthalates and their compound: all passed the requirements.

2) Labeling:
2.1 Commodity inspection mark: all passed the requirements.
2.2 Chinese labeling: Three items (number 1, 6 and 18) failed because of the following reasons.
2.2.1 The outer box indicates that the product of origin is Turkey but the labeling name and address of the manufacturer is Korean (number 1).
2.2.2 The address of the manufacturer and usage and warnings are not indicated on the label. Also, the size of the Chinese character "warning" is smaller than the standard 5mmX5mm and their content font size is smaller than 1.5mmX1.5mm (number 6).
2.2.3 The outer packaging shows two expiration periods, which are 15 months and 18 months (number 18).

Follow-up procedures
The BSMI said that regarding items (number 1, 6 and 18) that failed in the Chinese labeling requirements, the importer or manufacturer has been notified to make corrections within a given time limit according to Article 59-1 of the Commodity Inspection Act. Failure to do so will result in a fine between 100,000 NTD and 1,000,000 NTD.

The BSMI said that clay toys are subject to mandatory inspection before being sent from the factory or imported. The BSMI has an annual market inspection scheme to counter marketed products that are not complied with inspection standards. Inspectors will be dispatched to look into under qualified products, make a record and take legal actions. Consumer rights are ensured under this double-checking mechanism.

Precautions when purchasing clay toys
The BSMI said that manufacturers and importers are responsible for product safety and correctness of labels. Consumers are also pleased to pay attention to the following precautions when purchasing clay toys.

1) Consumers are advised to purchase clay toy that comes with a Commodity inspection mark , or .For further inquiries, please refer to https://civil.bsmi.gov.tw/bsmi_pqn.
2) Make sure that the product comes with detailed Chinese labeling. Pay attention to the recommended age ranges, warnings and usage.
3) Do not let infants and children put clay toys in their mouth or chew on the toys because consumption of plasticizer, migration elements and harmful substances could cause harm to children’s health. Remind the children to not forget to wash hands after playing.
4) To prevent children suffocation caused by playing with soft plastic bags or plastic packaging films, discard soft plastic packaging substances after opening and keep them from children.

The BSMI reminds consumers that more knowledge you have about the products you are purchasing means more safety you are playing. For more information, please visit the BSMI Product Safety Internet at https://safety.bsmi.gov.tw or call the toll free number of 0800-007123.

• 編修日期：2020/02/13
• 上稿單位：檢驗行政組