Toy safety given EU boost ahead of festive period 

The revised Toy Safety Directive, tabled by the European Commission last January (EurActiv 28/01/08), will update European safety law to take into account developments in the modern toy industry. 

At present, toys are often manufactured using materials and technology for which no prior rules existed. The legislation, adopted by the MEPs with 481 votes in favour and 73 against amid 40 abstentions at their Strasbourg plenary session yesterday (18 December), will replace previous laws, which "had given good service but needed replacing," read a Parliament press release. 

The new rules will "beef up safety regulations", ban the use of "carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic substances" in toys and "restrict the use of heavy metals and fragrances," the Parliament statement continued. 

Stricter rules for chemicals 

Under the new rules, chemicals that are capable of causing cancer, changing genetic information and harming reproduction (known as 'CMR' substances) are banned in "accessible parts of toys". Lead and mercury can "no longer be intentionally used," nickel is less widely tolerated and allergenic fragrances are either completely forbidden (55 substances) or must be labelled if below a certain limit. 

Rules to prevent choking on small parts are strengthened and health warnings must be marked in a more visible and legible manner. Likewise, the CE mark, which indicates that a toy is in compliance with EU rules, must now be affixed on packaging too if not otherwise clearly visible on the product. 

More obligations for industry… 

Toy manufacturers must carry out their own safety assessments to ascertain whether products comply with the new directive "to allow traceability by the market surveillance authorities". Meanwhile, importers are obliged to check whether manufacturers have carried out the necessary safety checks. 

EU member states will be able to impose "penalties" should industry fail to comply with the terms of the directive. It is up to governments to make sure that national market surveillance authorities are performing adequate checks at extra-EU borders, while the authorities have been granted the right to destroy toys "presenting a serious risk". 

…but consumer groups unhappy 

Consumer groups widely condemned the new legislation for favouring industry over safety concerns. BEUC, the European consumer organisation, claimed the new measures meant that "many dangerous chemicals, such as carcinogenic substances, allergenic fragrances and hormonal disrupting chemicals" would still be allowed in toys. 

Moreover, "most toys will not have to be checked by an independent third-party before being placed on the market," BEUC complained. A proposal for such a requirement was rejected by a majority of MEPs in yesterday’s vote, which was among the reasons for which Green/EFA members voted against the entire package amid accusations that it was ill-thought out. 

"It is regrettable that the Parliament did not give itself sufficient time to bring further improvements. Rather than producing good legislation, [Industry] Commissioner [Günter] Verheugen and the French Presidency were more concerned about the PR benefits of announcing these new rules one week before Christmas," the group stated. 

In a related development, Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva yesterday signed a 'toy safety pact' between the EU executive and key retailers and importers. 

The agreement saw industry representatives give their backing to various measures to boost product safety, particularly by providing education and training on standards. "Children are our most vulnerable consumers, and there can be no compromise when it comes to ensuring their well-being," said Commissioner Kuneva, explaining the need for the pact. 

Meanwhile, EU governments have a maximum of 18 months to transpose the new Toy Safety Directive into national law. 

Welcoming the vote, the European Commission said the new legislation would "give consumers assurance that toys sold in the EU fulfil the highest safety requirements in the world, especially those related to chemical substances". 

European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen, responsible for enterprise and industrial policy, said: "Children’s health and safety is precious and demands the highest possible protection. I am very pleased that the EU has been able to agree within record time on these robust and far reaching rules for safe toys. The new rules incorporate the newest health and safety standards. Legislators have done what they can for children to be safe when playing with toys." 

Hailing the signature by industry of the European Commission's 'toy safety pact', EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said: "As Christmas approaches, we are once again reminded of how many households across the EU rely on the toy industry to deliver safe, reliable products […] The agreement with toy importers and retailers is a very positive sign of the industry's commitment to toy safety, and should help to further reinforce the system that has been put in place to ensure the safety of all toys sold in the EU." 

Welcoming the vote on the new package of toy safety legislation, Belgian MEP Marianne Thyssen (EPP-ED), the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the file, said Europe had taken "an important step towards safer toys right before Christmas". "For our political group, consumer safety has always been high on the agenda. When it comes to the health and safety of children, the smallest and most vulnerable consumers, we have made no compromises and have been all the more thorough," the rapporteur continued. 

UK Conservative MEP Malcolm Harbour (EPP-ED) said the vote meant parents could feel assured that their children would be better protected by safer toys. "The legislation will significantly enhance toy safety for children without being overly restrictive and limiting the choice of good quality, safe toys," the UK Conservatives’ internal market spokesman in the European Parliament continued. 

"It was also important that we didn't give responsible producers an unwanted Christmas present of over-burdening legislation wrapped in EU red tape.UK manufacturers, many of them small businesses, who are already suffering because of the financial crisis, would have been subjected to substantial new costs had we not successfully fought off plans to force them into submitting toys for third party testing," Harbour stated. 

The old directive was "not sufficient to deal with the risks from imported toys, since 95% of toys in Britain and 80% in the EU as a whole are imported from China," said Socialist MEP Arlene McCarthy, chair of the European Parliament’s internal market committee. "With this new law, we have made importers responsible for ensuring that the toys they bring into the EU comply with our high standards," McCarthy continued. 

Socialist consumer protection spokeswoman Evelyne Gebhardt MEP (PES, DE) said: "We came under intense lobbying. We fought for greater safety but other political groups were strongly influenced by international companies. Toy safety is too important to be left to the free market. In fact, we wanted to go further and have the toys tested by independent bodies, but we could not get the others to agree on this." 

Socialist toy safety spokesman Anna Hedh MEP (PES, SE) described the vote as "a victory for the precautionary principle that products must be proved safe rather than assumed to be safe". "We cannot take the risk that our children’s’ toys have hidden dangers and discover problems when it’s too late," she added, hailing the fact that there would be "stricter labelling". 

"The procedure used for the fast-track approval of the directive is questionable. In the frenzied rush to secure agreement on the legislation […], the Parliament was pushed into accepting this flawed text. These back-door deals circumvent the democratic process of decision-making between the Parliament and Council and lead to a lack of transparency. The text of the compromise was only made public a couple of days before the vote in plenary," complained the Greens/EFA Group in the European Parliament, which voted against the directive. 

Welcoming the adoption of the package, Toy Industries of Europe (TIE), which represents European toy manufacturers, released a statement describing the outcome as a "tough but workable approcah to toy safety standards". "Safety is our top priority, along with quality and business integrity. Although the new requirements will result in a substantial economic and technical burden for European toy manufacturers and in particular for SMEs, the new directive is a timely update of the original text adopted in 1988, especially for an industry that is always striving for innovation," said TIE President Brian Ellis.

But consumer groups were less convinced. "The revised text reflects more the interests of the toy industry than those of children," lamented Monique Goyens, director-general of EU consumer organisation BEUC. "Given the remaining risks, in particular due to dangerous chemical substances, such as allergens, carcinogenic and hormonal disrupting chemicals, another revision will soon be necessary and unavoidable," Goyens said. 

"We know from tests carried out by consumer organisations that many toys now sold on the European market are illegal and/or unsafe. We urge the Commission to take them into account when evaluating whether the mandatory third-party testing of toys should be introduced in the lifetime of this legislation," commented Stephen Russell, secretary-general of ANEC, which represents European consumers on standardisation issues. 

Hailing the signature of the 'toy safety pact' with Commissioner Kuneva, EuroCommerce Secretary-General Xavier Durieu said: "On the eve of the Christmas break, today's signature marks a strong political signal and highlights a shared commitment to ensure the safety of our children. By this voluntary agreement, EuroCommerce commits to widely disseminate relevant information and share best practices on toy safety among its membership, which, in many cases, already go beyond the legal requirements to ensure toy safety."