Chinese toy exporters will face a "high threshold." After a four-year transition period, it is said that the world's most stringent toy safety technology regulations, the EU Toy Safety New Directive (hereinafter referred to as the "new directive") will be fully implemented on July 20, which exports heavy metals from toys. The number of tests will increase from 8 to 19.
In this regard, Wang Danqing, a management consulting partner of Ruixin Zhicheng, pointed out to the reporter of International Finance News that the safety standards for domestic children's toys have yet to be strengthened. Although the introduction of the new directives has caused domestic toy companies to face tremendous pressure and challenges, they have not tasted it. It is not a good opportunity to force the upgrade of the toy industry.
Getting started
It is understood that the EU Toy Safety New Directive 2009/48/EC was once called the most stringent toy safety technical regulations, effective from July 20, 2009.
This directive is divided into two transition periods: the mandatory physical and mechanical parts are required from July 20, 2011; the requirements in the chemical section will become effective on July 20, 2013, and the toy products entering the EU market will have to comply with the chemistry. The new requirement for the 19 migration elements of the security section, compared to the previous eight.
Compared with the physical machinery part that was implemented two years ago, the toy definition and chemical safety part of this implementation is very strict. Zhang Lilong, deputy director of the Light Industry Department of Hangzhou Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, said that the "New Directive" not only expanded the scope of inspection, but also greatly reduced the limit of the original inspection items. For example, the previous limit of a certain heavy metal element was 60 units. Allow to check out 11.6 units.
In addition, this toy regulation also involves corporate social responsibility, testing agency obligations, etc. The content is cumbersome and the severity is historically rare. In particular, the chemical part to be implemented detects 19 kinds of heavy metals, 66 kinds of sensitizing aromatic substances, more than 3,000 kinds of CMR (carcinogenic, teratogenic or reproductive toxicity) substances, involving dozens of toy manufacturing materials such as plastics, inks and wood.
The reporter learned that the Zhejiang commodity inspection department recently conducted a sampling of more than 20 toy companies in the Hangzhou area, and 80% of the company's products could not meet the new directive standards.
Mr. Mei, the person in charge of an export plastic toy enterprise in Dongguan, Guangdong, said in an interview with the International Finance News that the implementation of the first phase of the EU Toy Safety Directive has affected the export of the company's toys, and the second phase will inevitably More pressure on its exports.
Cost leads to price increases?
A number of toy companies told reporters that the intuitive impact of the new EU toy safety regulations is the increase in production costs. According to statistics from relevant institutions, after the introduction of the new directive, domestic toy export enterprises will add about 10% of the cost, and many enterprises are worried about future development.
The Guangdong Provincial Quality Inspection Center once said that the EU market threshold has been rising year by year. The new technology regulations will promote the toy industry to improve the level of toys. Inevitably, the cost of toy enterprises will increase. The EU new directive has a greater impact on the export of electronic toys. %-10% cost.
The person in charge of an export plush toy company in Hangzhou told this reporter that the previous laws have increased the grade of raw materials exported to Europe by at least one grade, and the cost of plush toys has doubled. As the EU's adjustment requirements are more stringent, the rising cost of raw materials will probably reflect the market price of toys. "If we don't raise prices, we will face a loss," the official said.
However, will the price increase affect the sales of the products? This has also become a concern for the heads of major companies in the future.
At the same time, some insiders pointed out that cumbersome and demanding testing projects will also bring high testing costs, as well as huge equipment upgrade costs, which will greatly increase the production costs of toy companies. It creates great competitive pressure on enterprises.
Forced industrial upgrading
Wang Danqing believes that the cost increase will affect the price of toys. However, the future development of the toy industry should start with building its own brand and increasing added value.
In Wang Danqing's view, both the export of toy products and the export trade of other Chinese products now face two major problems. Domestically, raw material costs and labor costs are rising. Compared with low-cost Southeast Asia and other countries, China’s original advantages no longer exist. Externally, trade barriers in the international market continue to strengthen. Recently, the trade friction between China and the EU is even more Can reflect this problem.
"So, in the face of new directives, domestic toy companies have to actively build brands, improve the quality and added value of their products, and transform the original mode of processing cheap labor products. So this is a challenge, and it is not an opportunity. This is a good opportunity to force toy companies to upgrade, eliminate backward enterprises, and upgrade the product structure of the industry." Wang Danqing said.
According to industry opinions, the quality requirements of toys in the EU are getting higher and higher, and it is also a good thing for companies that are interested in making high-quality toys. Because high standards increase the market's entry barriers, it is a protection for quality companies.
The reporter also learned that for OEMs, the implementation of this directive has little impact, because OEMs do not need to consider the market and sales, only earn processing fees; the most affected are their own brands, if not strict The production and testing processes, after their products are exported to Europe, are endless. At present, in the European market, China's competitors are mainly EU member states, including Germany, Austria, and Belgium.
Therefore, many experts said that toy companies should take this opportunity to improve production and testing processes and improve product safety and quality. “At the same time, we should tap the potential of the domestic market and reduce our dependence on overseas markets.” Hexun News
For Eagle Toys, this is a challenge and an opportunity.