Intertek Shines at the Spielwarenmesse International Toy Fair Nürnberg 2010

Intertek has been an exhibitor at the Spielwarenmesse International Toy Fair Nürnberg in Germany for many years. This year, from February 4-9, clients and prospects had a chance to meet many Intertek quality assurance experts around the world at the exhibition.

The International Toy Fair is one of the world’s leading fairs for toys, hobby and recreational products. The fair is open exclusively to the specialist trades. In 2010, 76,600 visitors from 104 countries came to the Spielwarenmesse International Toy Fair Nürnberg. This raised the number of visitors by some 2 percent over the previous year. The Intertek booth was visited by many clients and prospects who were interested in developing a partnership with Intertek as their quality assurance partner. 

A highlight of the exhibition was Intertek’s CPSIA Seminar with Joe Mohorovic, Vice President of Intertek Consumer Goods, as a keynote speaker. Before joining Intertek, Mohorovic served various roles at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), including Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of International Programs, reporting directly to the former Chairman.

Joe Mohorovic addressed recent regulatory developments in the U.S. along with other integral standards being set for the juvenile product industry. Among these is the U.S. Toy Industry Association’s new Toy Safety Certification Program, an industry-wide system that ensures compliance with the CPSIA and other safety standards, under which Intertek is an accredited certification body to support toy manufacturers. Other addressed concerns surround changing chemical requirements in the aftermath of such discoveries as cadmium in children’s jewelry, updates on lead paint and substrate limits, and regulatory implications of such recognized issues for manufacturers and retailers worldwide. For German clients, Alexander Breunig, Lab Manager Toys for Intertek Consumer Goods Germany, provided up-to-date information of CPSIA in the German language. The participants of the seminar had many questions and took advantage of the expertise of the top-class speakers.

At the Toy Fair, Intertek also took the opportunity to promote the Intertek Verified certification, which provides verification services for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) – the global marketing arm for Hong Kong-based manufacturers, traders and service providers. This seal of certification has translated supplier trust into a readily identifiable mark to help HKTDC.com members scan through the sea of sourcing options with ease. As an internationally-accredited authentication body, Intertek verifies certificates and provides accreditation services to ensure the consistency, validity and accuracy of suppliers. Buyers searching through HKTDC’s expansive platform can easily narrow down credible suppliers through noting the IVS seal next to suppliers whom passed Intertek’s verification process. The Intertek Verified seal guarantees that suppliers meet recognized standards for the certificate in question, and serves as a time and cost-efficient symbol to narrow down credible companies. For suppliers, the seal is a competitive advantage that differentiates their efforts to be verified as trustworthy partners, compared to suppliers that have not gone through a third-party authentication process.