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Sweatshop factories in China making millions of dollars by offering low wages and cutting costs on safety will soon be a thing of the past, the world's No2 toymaker Hasbro said.
Hasbro chairman Alan Hassenfeld said all toy factories will have to comply with the new International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI) rules if they hope to get any business at all.
``It is my prediction that ... inhuman sweatshop conditions will not exist ... [because] no product will be able to enter the major markets without a certificate from ICTI,'' he said.
The ICTI recently drew up a global standard for the ethical manufacture of toys called Care, which stands for caring, awareness, responsibility and ethics. Firms who want to get recognition must first submit to an audit covering areas such as welfare of workers, pay and factory conditions.
There are about 4,000 to 5,000 toy factories in the Pearl River Delta, according to David Yip, president of the Toys Manufacturer's Association of Hong Kong.
He said there ``was a feeling'' in the industry and from mainland officials that factories would need to comply by next year. Factories would need to get certification otherwise ``they would not be able to get business from the big customers.''
China produces 75 percent of the world's toys, according to Christian Ewert, chief executive and president of the ICTI Care Foundation. A total of 68 Chinese factories have gained Care recognition as of the end of last year.
``The face of big business is changing. If you want to be part of the 21st century, you'd better be socially responsible,'' Hassenfeld said.
He said there would always be ``some bad people'' but improved technology such as camera phones would make it easier to uncover bad practices.
Hassenfield predicts that toys and games such teddy bears, Monopoly, yo-yos and Lego would still exist in 20 years provided that they were ``contemporized.''
Technology would still play a major role with new developments in radio tagging, speech recognition, wireless, and LCD screens, Hassenfeld said.
``Still, technology for the sake of technology will not win,'' he said. ``Play, imagination and fun would still come first.''
Age would also be irrelevant as toys would be sold to people from ``zero to 120,'' Hassenfeld said.
The toy market for senior citizens remains largely untapped, and a ``huge, huge market,'' he added. danny.chung@globalchina.com
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