EU strengthens toy safety involving chemicals

According to Xinhua News Agency, the European Commission put forward a new proposal on toy safety rules on January 25 to further strengthen toy safety on the EU market. The Deputy Commissioner for Industry and Industry of the European Commission, Fairholgan, told the press conference that the new rules were revised on the basis of the “Safety Toys Directive” promulgated by the European Union in May 1988. The focus of the amendment is to strengthen the Chemical toy safety.

Fairholgan said that the revision of old toy safety rules mainly hopes to achieve the following goals: to propose higher safety standards that can deal with new risks; to strengthen the responsibility of toy manufacturers and importers for toy safety; and to strengthen the market surveillance of EU member states.

The new rules mainly prohibit the use of chemical substances that may cause cancer, mutagenesis or obstruction of reproduction; reduce the use of chemical substances such as lead or mercury; prohibit the use of perfumes that cause allergic reactions; and prohibit the design of combinations of food and toys. The new rules also require toy manufacturers to establish comprehensive technical information for all toys they produce to facilitate inspections by market surveillance agencies.

According to the new rules, importers have the responsibility to ensure the safety of toys imported into the EU market. The EU member states assume the obligation of market supervision and border inspection and penalize toy manufacturers or importers who violate the new rules.

The proposal put forward by the European Commission has yet to be passed by the European Parliament and the European Council. Fairholgan said he hopes the proposal will be passed before the end of this year.