Ahammad Parvej Khan
The government of Bangladesh has taken decision to introduce mandatory national safety standards for toys through issuing gazette notification on 23 June 2026.
The Ministry of Industries issued the gazette notification (BDS ISO 8124-2:2025, BDS ISO 8124-3:2025, BDS ISO 8124-6:2025, and BDS ISO 8124-12:2025)
By bringing all locally manufactured and imported toys under the mandatory certification regime of the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), Bangladesh has taken a landmark step toward protecting children from hazardous chemicals and ensuring that every child has access to safer products, opines experts.
They said the gazette marks a major advancement in strengthening Bangladesh's consumer protection framework and aligns the country's toy safety regulations more closely with internationally recognized safety standards.
Sources concerned said that under the new regulatory framework, manufacturers and importers will be required to have their products tested in BSTI-approved laboratories and comply with the relevant Bangladesh Standards (BDS) before toys can be placed on the market.
Welcoming the decision, the Environment and Social Development Organization-ESDO opines that this milestone decision has come at a critical time. Scientific evidence generated over the past decade has consistently revealed the presence of hazardous chemicals, including lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury, arsenic and other toxic substances, in toys and children's products available in Bangladesh.
ESDO Executive Director, Siddika Sultana told Bangladesh Post that ESDO's research, including Toxic Toys (2013), Innocence Touched by Shadows (2023), Silent Poison (2024), and Toxic Playtime (2025), has repeatedly demonstrated the urgent need for mandatory toy safety regulations to protect children's health and development.
She said for more than a decade, ESDO has worked tirelessly to advance this agenda through scientific research, evidence-based policy recommendations, policy dialogues with BSTI and other government agencies, stakeholder consultations, and sustained public awareness campaigns across traditional and social media platforms.
Experts also opine that the publication of this gazette a historic milestone for children's rights and family welfare in Bangladesh. Safe toys are not merely consumer products, they are fundamental to children's healthy growth, learning, and development.
Every child has the right to play in a safe environment, free from exposure to toxic substances that can cause irreversible harm to physical and cognitive development.
The ESDO also recognizes that this achievement represents the collective efforts of the Government of Bangladesh, BSTI, Ban Toxics, policymakers, manufacturers, consumer advocates, civil society organizations, and the media, all of whom have contributed to advancing this important public health initiative.
While celebrating this landmark achievement, ESDO emphasizes that effective implementation will be the key to realizing the full benefits of the new standards. The organization encourages regular market surveillance, strengthened laboratory capacity, effective import inspection, strict enforcement against non-compliant products, and continued public education to ensure that every toy sold in Bangladesh meets the required safety standards.
