Children’s toys are currently a highly competitive market segment. Accordingly, the demand for demonstrating the quality and capability of enterprises manufacturing and distributing these products is extremely high. However, many enterprises still have not clearly identified which solution is the most optimal and effective. Today, the ISSQ Institute of Quality would like to provide you with information about TCVN 6238 certification, which is the certification of children’s toy quality.

What are children’s toys?

According to Clause 1, Article 2 of Circular No. 16/2011/TT-BGDĐT on the management of children’s toy equipment in schools issued by the Ministry of Education and Training, children’s toys are defined as follows:

• Children’s toys are products or materials designed and manufactured for use by children under 16 years of age;

• Children’s toys include toys used in classrooms, playground areas, and outdoor play areas within school premises.

Benefits of certification for educational equipment and children’s toys

Creating a competitive advantage and increasing the possibility of winning bids

Obtaining a National Standard Conformity Certificate for children’s toys and educational equipment creates a significant competitive advantage over competitors in promoting the enterprise’s image, product quality, and brand. A certificate of conformity with standards/regulations is also an opportunity for customers to participate in bidding packages for large projects and enterprises. In practice, many corporations and businesses require their partners’ products to have a certificate proving conformity with quality standards before agreeing to purchase products or sign contracts.

Meeting legal requirements on product quality declaration before placing products on the market

According to Article 24 of the Law on Product and Goods Quality, manufacturers must declare that their products conform to applicable standards/technical regulations before placing them on the market.

This is a mandatory requirement. Therefore, educational equipment and children’s toys of enterprises must be quality inspected, certified for conformity with standards, and have their conformity declared at the provincial or municipal Sub-department of Standards, Metrology and Quality. As a result, once products have been certified and their conformity has been declared, enterprises can avoid risks of inspection, confiscation, or administrative penalties by market surveillance authorities due to failure to carry out product quality declaration.

Building trust with customers and partners

After educational equipment and children’s toys are certified as conforming to TCVN 6238-3:2011 and TCVN 6238-1, 2, 4A:2017 as applicable, the national conformity mark (TCVN) may be displayed on product labels, packaging, and product introduction dossiers upon declaration of conformity. This demonstrates that the company’s products have met the applicable standards for standardization, metrology, and quality, and serves as a commitment to quality for customers and partners. From there, enterprises can build trust and strengthen their brand through the quality of the products they provide.

Certification of children’s toy quality

Certification of children’s toy quality is an activity performed by a legally recognized certification body to assess, inspect, and confirm the conformity of a product’s features, structure, and condition against the requirements specified in the corresponding technical standards.

Children’s toys are certified based on the following technical standards:

Product name: Children’s toys

Applicable standards:

• TCVN 6238-1:2011 (ISO 8124-1:2009)

• TCVN 6238-2:2008 (ISO 8124-2:2007)

• TCVN 6238-3:2011 (ISO 8124-3:2010)

• TCVN 6238-4A:2011 (ISO 8124-4:2010)

• TCVN 6238-5:1997 (EN 71-5:1993)

• ASTM F963-11

Information on some technical standards

ISO/IEC Guide 50:2002 – Safety aspects – Guidelines for child safety

This guide provides broad coverage of potential sources of unintended physical hazards to children arising from products, processes, or services that children may come into contact with, even when such products, processes, or services are not specifically intended for children.

TCVN 6238-1:2011 (ISO 8124-1:2009) – Safety of toys – Part 1: Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties

The requirements of this standard apply to all types of toys, meaning any product or material designed or intended for use by children under 14 years of age.

TCVN 6238-2:2008 (ISO 8124-2:2007) – Safety of toys – Part 2: Flammability requirements

This standard specifies flammable materials that are prohibited for use in all toys, as well as requirements related to the flammability of certain toys when exposed to a small ignition source.

TCVN 6238-3:2011 (ISO 8124-3:2010) – Safety of toys – Part 3: Migration limits of certain elements

This standard specifies the maximum acceptable levels, as well as sampling and extraction methods prior to analysis, for the migration of toxic elements such as antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, and selenium from toy materials and toy components, excluding inaccessible materials.

The above are the ISSQ Institute of Quality’s sharing to help answer questions regarding the benefits of TCVN 6238 certification.

We hope this article provides useful information for you and your enterprise.

The ISSQ Institute of Quality is always ready to accompany agencies and enterprises during the period of integration and development.

Please contact our hotline: 0981851111 or email vienchatluong@issq.org.vn | tcvn@issq.org.vn. We are honored to serve our valued customers.

Published date: 11/04/2023