TRADE MINISTRY KEEPING EYE ON CHILDREN`S TOYS

Jakarta, Feb 25 (ANTARA) - The trade ministry is keeping an eye on children's toys marketed in the country to protect consumers from possible dangerous substance in the products, an official said here on Friday.

"We have put children's toys on he list of goods subject to periodic checks," the ministry's director of consumers' protection, Inayat Imam, said here on Friday.

He said his office suspected that a lot of products that are sold very cheap have a low quality and probably contain dangerous chemical substances.

"We have already taken some samples from products sold at several cheap children toys' centers and are just examining them at the laboratory," he said.

He said if the results of the lab test proved that the products contained health threatening substance his office would recall them.

"We fear the toys contain hazardous substance," he said.

He said the trade ministry would contact the association of producers of children's toys to discuss further steps.

"A lot of the products are import products while the number of domestic industries is not big," he said.
He said the trade ministry would also watch distribution of cheap carpets for fear they also contain dangerous substance.

"We are still watching. We are suspicious whey they sell very cheaply," he said.***