President’s Letter – June 28, 2011: Global Vision -
Global Scope
According to the latest report from The NPD Group, 2010 worldwide toy
sales grew 5% over the previous year to $83.3 Billion. This
is fantastic news for the industry and a clear indication that our
businesses are both global in scope and also growing!
TIA continues to be at the leading edge of toy issues at the global
level.
Twenty-five years ago we helped to form the International Council of
Toy Industries (ICTI), the vehicle associations serving the
global toy industry now rely upon to build relationships, exchange
information, coordinate activities and reproduce successful programs
from one nation to another. Though ICTI has no policy-making
authority, it provided the platform for the development of the toy
industry’s ground-breaking initiative for ethical manufacturing:
the ICTI CARE
Process. Today, ICTI consists of 20 national toy
association members. Our own Arnie Rubin (Funrise) serves as its
president and TIA serves as the administrating organization. I
encourage you to take a look at the organization’s website (www.toy-icti.org) to learn more.
But the agenda of international activities in which TIA is involved
has grown far beyond ICTI. Within the past year we have been
actively engaged in issues such as:
- APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) Toy Safety Standards
Initiative
- United Nations Chemicals in Products Regulation Proposals
- Canadian Toy Safety Regulation Proposals
- Emerging Toy Safety Requirements in India and Argentina
- Gulf States Conformity Assessment Policy Development
- China Ministry of Culture Policies on Entertainment & Toy
Licensing
- IPR protection initiatives
Recently, we hosted a meeting of the International Toy Industry CEO
Roundtable in Los Angeles where several of the world’s largest toy
companies were represented.
Many of the issues that we are addressing at the international level
are also directly affecting the U.S. domestic toy industry at either the
U.S. federal or state levels, if not both. “Green
chemistry” and “extended producer responsibility,” for
example, were two of the key issues that were raised with California
legislators during TIA’s recent “Toy Day” in
Sacramento. This event, our first in the state, was a huge success
and laid the groundwork for continued activity to avoid regulatory
proposals that often issue from that and other western states. As
we prepare for our next Washington, DC Fly-In in November 2011, we
remain intimately involved in proposals to amend the U.S. Consumer
Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and monitor other federal
activities, including FTC proposals that could affect how toy companies
market their products to children.
TIA has been transformed over the past four years into a powerful
advocacy organization for the U.S. toy industry domestically and
globally. We extend our thanks to all of TIA’s members for
your efforts, participation and steadfast support.
Warm regards,
Carter Keithley
ckeithley@toyassociation.org
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