BOC tightens watch on dolls with high lead content

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) said yesterday it will keep a close eye on shipments of toys, particularly dolls, that may contain high levels of lead.

Johnny Martinez, acting chief of the BOC’s Port of Manila-Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (POM-CIIS) said there was a need for the agency to be more vigilant since there is an expected increase in the importation of toys, including dolls, with Christmas barely two months away.

“Dolls are the most common gifts for Christmas, they are what you would see children holding all the time. Sometimes, younger ones even bite them so we want to make sure that they will be safe from any adverse effects of the toys’ contents,” he added.

There have been studies showing that the brain development of children exposed to lead is adversely affected and they suffer from decreased IQ scores, shorter attention spans and delayed learning.

Martinez said the BOC-POM-CIIS will coordinate with the Formal Entry Division (FED), the office that receives an advance copy of the contents of a shipment that has been declared to contain toys. The shipment would be examined and subjected to an x-ray scan and doll samples would be taken and tested by an independent private laboratory.

“It will usually take only one to two days before the results come out so the shipment is not held for long, and the cost is also minimal. We just want to make sure,” Martinez said.

Last year, several popular brands of toys from China were discovered to contain excessive amounts of lead, prompting a recall on China-made toys in several countries. – Evelyn Macairan