CARE Foundation President Christian Ewert credits Hong Kong with spreading the CARE message of ethical standards to China, where much of the world’s toys are manufactured

Hong Kong companies and the Hong Kong Toy Council have been instrumental in the success of an ethical manufacturing programme set up by the International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI), the global association of toy manufacturers.

New York-based ICTI established the programme, called the CARE Process (which stands for Caring, Aware, Responsible and Ethical), as an independent system to ensure its products are manufactured in safe and healthy work environments. The process is overseen by the non-profit CARE Foundation.

Christian Ewert, President of CARE Foundation, said the Hong Kong Toys Council had influenced the success of its ground-breaking programme, which carries with it the CARE certification of compliance, in the Chinese mainland.

Supportive from the start

“The Hong Kong Toys Council has been supportive from the beginning when we started talking about our CARE programme and further on, the council was involved with the content of the ground document and the country-specific document for China. In fact, Hong Kong has been the ambassador for our messages to carry the programme to the factories in China as many of them are owned by Hong Kong-based companies,” Mr Ewert said.

“Without the support of the council, we would not have accomplished as much as we had over the past two years.”

So far, 650 toy factories with an average of 1,400 workers in each have complied with the programme. “This means that about 900,000 workers are working in conditions which meet our standards, face fair compensation with no excessive overtime and there is safety in the workplace,” added Mr Ewert. 

That the CARE programme started off in China is logical as 75 per cent of toys manufactured globally come from the “Chinese factory of the world.”

World follows suit

The CARE Process is also expanding to the Americas and Europe, especially Eastern Europe, where there is a significant manufacturing base.

Formed in 1974, ICTI is an association of 19 national toy associations from around the world. ICTI is more than a traditional industry spokesman and lobbyist as it promises to "advance social responsibility in the industry with programmes to address environmental concerns, fair and lawful employment practices and workplace safety." 

According to Mr Ewert, part of the challenge in the past two years had been to involve all toy brands in the CARE Process. “They are our key drivers to demand their sourcing bases and suppliers be compliant with our standards. However, we firmly believe our standards are voluntary. We see more and more factories joining our programmes so it is difficult if other factories do not join in.”   

Hong Kong support for ethical toy makers

Related link
International Council of Toy Industries