March 17, 2014 | The Toy Industry Association (TIA) was part of an industry coalition that met with Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry in Jakarta on Monday, March 17th to discuss key issues related to the implementation of Indonesia’s new National Standard for Toys (SNI Regulation 24/M-IND/PER/4/2013). 

The group – which included representatives from TIA, TIA member companies, local distributors, and U.S. and Danish government officials – urged the Ministry of Industry to amend the country’s toy testing and certification requirements so that they are more workable for companies and more consistent with international practice.  The law was passed in 2013, yet the implementation date has been temporarily delayed until April 30th due to the law’s onerous testing and certification requirements, which prevented more than 100 containers of toys from entering Indonesia last November.

“Following our most recent meeting with Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry, we are hopeful that changes will be made to the law prior to its upcoming implementation date,” said TIA’s Alan Kaufman, senior vice president of technical affairs, who has met with Indonesian regulators in the past to encourage the international alignment of the country’s toy standards. “As written, the regulation includes several unprecedented measures which will unnecessarily prevent the import of safe, affordable playthings into Indonesia.”

The following points were negotiated during the meeting:

• Testing Frequency – Currently, the law requires that testing is done for every shipment imported into the country. While the Ministry is at present unwilling to alter this requirement, officials agreed that testing frequency could be adjusted at a future date if an importer demonstrates a history of compliance.
  
  
• Sampling – During the first two years of the law’s implementation, certain non-Indonesian labs will be allowed to perform sampling and testing for toys imported into the country. These foreign labs must be registered with the Ministry of Industry and have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with one of nine product certification bodies (“LSPRos”) nominated by the Indonesian government.
  
  Following the initial two-year period, a bilateral government-to-government mutual recognition agreement between Indonesia and the lab’s country will be required for all non-Indonesian labs.
  
  
• Laboratory Approval – The Ministry agreed to expedite the registration of offshore laboratories prior to the April 30th implementation date. TIA strongly encourages labs to register and sign an MOU with one of the LSPRos. Application forms and additional information have been provided by TIA to all associate member testing labs.
  
  
• Existing Inventory – In lieu of returning all existing inventory to distributor warehouses for testing and labeling, the Ministry will consider random testing and issuance of certifications en masse. Importers must supply the government by the end of this week (March 21) with a list of all products sold in the last six months, along with the “ship to” address so that such sampling may commence.