Brussels (Brussels Morning) – The European Council has adopted its standing (negotiating mandate) on the toy safety regulation that revises the rules to protect children from risks linked to the use of toys. While the current legislation pushes EU toy safety rules among the strictest in the world, the offered legislation aims to increase safety from harmful chemicals (e.g. endocrine disruptors) and strengthen the enforcement rules with a new digital product passport.
The EU Council’s position supports the general purposes of the proposal but introduces several improvements to elucidate the obligations of economic operators and online marketplaces; it sets out the scope of the digital product passport and warnings and expands the number of substances whose presence in toys is prohibited.
How does the proposed legislation aim to enhance toy safety in the EU?
The negotiating mandate assumed today sets out the Councilās position on a proposal tabled by the Commission in July 2023. The Commission’s recommendation for a toy safety regulation aims to update the existing directive with efforts to increase protection from harmful chemical products, expanding the prohibition on carcinogenic, mutagenic and products toxic for reproduction (CMRs) to other harmful chemical products such as endocrine disruptors and chemicals that impact the respiratory system or other organs.
The proposed legislation seeks to reduce the number of non-compliant and unsafe toys on the EU market by supporting the enforcement of the legal requirements, in particular for imported toys. The Commission proposal presents a digital product passport (DPP) that will include information on the safety of the toy, so that border management authorities can scan all digital passports operating a new IT system. The Commission will be able to revise the regulation and order the removal of certain toys from the market if any new threats not provided for in the current text arise in future.
How does the EU Council address the obligations of economic operators in the toy market?
In the Councilās reconciling mandate, the obligations of economic operators have been tilted with the general product safety regulation (GPSR) and with the new facts of the increasing volume of online sales.
To that end, manufacturers will need to mark the warnings in a language or languages that can be easily comprehended by consumers and other end-users, as specified by Member States. Manufacturers will also have to notify other economic operators in the distribution chain of any product conformity issues. Furthermore, toy importers will have to notify the producer and the market surveillance authorities if they suppose that a toy presents a risk.
The Council mandate also explains the obligations of āfulfilment service providersā (the companies that take care of the logistical aspects of selling products, such as warehousing, picking, packaging or shipping). They are deemed economic operators, since fulfilment service providers play an essential role in the placing of toys on the market, and in particular toys from third countries or those bought online. Their obligations will be limited to their role in the supply chain.
What measures does the EU Council propose for online marketplaces regarding toy safety?
The Council’s position assumes that providers of online marketplaces play an important function when intermediating the sale or advertising of toys between traders and consumers. Therefore, toys that do not coordinate with the toy safety regulations will be regarded as prohibited content for the purposes of the Digital Services Act (DSA). The negotiating directive also sets out toy-specific responsibilities for providers of online marketplaces, in addition to those mandated by the existing legal framework (like the DSA and the GPSR).
For instance, it demands that the interfaces of online marketplaces be prepared and organised in a way that allows economic operators to portray the CE marking, any warning necessary for the consumer prior to buying and the weblink or data carrier (i.e. QR or bar code) which provides a connection to the digital product passport.
How does the EU Council regulate chemicals in toys to ensure safety?
The Council’s position aligns the toy safety regulation with the law on the classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) of chemical products. To that end, it determines the general ban on the existence of substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR substances) in toys to those that have been subject to conformed classification.
Furthermore, it introduces a prohibition on certain categories of skin sensitisers (chemical substances that generate an allergic response following skin contact), a ban on toys that have a biocidal function, and a prohibition on the treatment of toys with biocidal products (except for toys that are intended to be positioned permanently outdoors). Biocidal products are implications including preservatives, insecticides, disinfectants and pesticides utilised for the control of harmful organisms. Certain preservatives are allowed in some kinds of toy materials.
