European Parliamentary Committee on Consumer Protection Approves Report for Tougher Toy Safety Rules

On 9 December 2021, the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) unanimously approved a report concerning toy safety. The report emphasises that while the existing EU Toy Safety Directive (TSD) provides children with a high level of safety, some manufacturers from nonEU countries selling their products on the single market, especially through online marketplaces, do not comply with EU legislation. As a result, it is felt that many toys sold in the EU still pose a significant threat.

IMCO has underlined, by means of its overwhelming vote in favour of increasing toy safety, that further measures should be added to avoid children’s exposure to chemicals. Furthermore, risks posed by connected toys need to be addressed in EU law (connected toys are internetenabled devices with WiFi, Bluetooth, or other capabilities built in). Last but not least, online marketplaces must act to ensure unsafe toys are removed.

MEPs are calling on the European Commission to augment EU rules on the manufacture and sale of toys in the EU, to ensure that all toys placed on the EU market comply with the existing Toy Safety Directive (2009/48/EC), regardless of where they are manufactured. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have sent a clear message to the Commission and other stakeholders that they want to strengthen current rules and market surveillance to ensure that all toys sold on the EU market, including from nonEU countries and online, are safe.

Toys that are placed on the EU market must comply with the provisions of the existing Directive, as implemented in all EU Member States, as well as with specific EU laws on chemicals, the MEPs declared. The Commission is urged to ensure that endocrine disruptors are banned in toys as soon as they are identified. In addition, the Commission must decide whether the current distinction between toys intended for children under 36 months and those intended for older children needs to be abolished.

Parliamentary members also highlighted that, in view of a future revision of the Directive (which dates from 2009), the Commission should also evaluate whether the limit value for chemicals, such as nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances, should be set as the strictest value in force at national level, and introduce a mechanism allowing limit values for dangerous substances to be changed quickly.

MEPs have further called on EU Member States to coordinate their market surveillance activities to detect unsafe toys more effectively and to equip their competent authorities with adequate human, financial and technical resources to improve controls. The use of new technologies, such as elabelling and artificial intelligence, should also be explored by the Commission to this end.

Stressing that connected toys create new vulnerabilities and pose a risk to children’s safety, privacy and mental health, MEPs encourage producers to integrate safety and security mechanisms into the design of their toys: for instance, against cyber threats; and exhort the Commission to address these issues in EU legislation.

MEPs have also emphasised that online marketplaces “should be obliged to take more responsibility in ensuring the safety and compliance of toys sold on their platforms”, e.g. by removing unsafe toys and preventing their reappearance.

The parliamentary committee calls on the Commission to assess whether labelling provisions for allergenic fragrances and dangerous chemicals should be included, as well as provisions on the durability and reparability of toys, in the future revision of the toy safety Directive.

According to the EU Safety Gate annual report, in 2020 toys were the most notified product category (27% of total notifications). Fresh data from 2021 released by the Commission on 3 December show that this year so far most of the alerts concern motor vehicles or related products (27%) and toys (19%).

The lead MEP on this matter, Brando Benifei, stated that “Our children deserve to benefit from [the] highest levels of protection when they play. The Toy Safety Directive has played a big role in making this possible, but inconsistencies, emerging challenges and recent scientific discoveries mean it needs a revision. We put forward proposals on what this should look like: a regulation, with enough flexibility to allow for timely adaptations in response to new and dangerous chemical substances. It should also improve on enforcement mechanisms that are currently insufficient, which have resulted in the proliferation of the online sale of unsafe toys. We want more action on socalled connected toys in defence of the security and privacy of children, a major challenge in the upcoming years".

As background, Hong Kong toy exporters to the EU will recall that the toy safety Directive 2009/48/EC lays down the safety criteria that toys must meet before they can be marketed anywhere in the EU. Toys must also comply with any other EU legislation applicable to them (such as the restriction on certain phthalates found in the EU REACH Regulation). The essential safety requirements of the Directive cover general risks: the health and safety of children, as well as other people such as parents or caregivers; and particular risks: physical and mechanical, flammability, chemical, electrical, hygiene and radioactivity risks. The Directive has had to be transposed by EU Member States into their national legislation and has applied since 20 July 2011. The chemical safety requirements have applied since 20 July 2013. There is a move by the EU institutions to revise the Directive, due to the exponential rise of ecommerce, technological innovations leading to new risks, and additional chemical concerns since the time the existing Directive had been adopted.