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Global Toy Safety Requirement Updates

2020-11-03


GPC is delighted bringing to you our October Newsletter with a summary of toy regulatory updates around the world and other chemical compliance news. 

Toys, both imported and locally manufactured, constitute a significant market for many countries. Over the past decades, many countries have adopted toy safety regulations or reinforced their current regulatory framework. The United States adopted the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in 2008, and the European Union adopted Directive 2009/48/EC on the Safety of Toys in 2009. They were soon followed by the Eurasian Economic Union, which adopted regulation CU TR 008/2011 in 2011. Turkey adopted a regulation based on the EU Directive on Toy Safety in 2016, and India’s Toy Quality Control Order was enacted in early 2020.

In countries where comprehensive toy safety regulations have been adopted, toys are most often subject to a two-tier regulatory framework. First, a legislative act sets out the general obligations placed upon the industry. Public authorities then request an authorised standardisation body to draft detailed safety requirements in the form of standards. For example, the European Union, the United States, and the Eurasian Economic Union all have both a regulation and a set of safety standards.

Regulatory frameworks applicable to toy safety may vary from one jurisdiction to another. However, they tend to share some common features. Such features typically include a requirement to comply with safety provisions in relation to the toys’ physical, mechanical, electrical, radioactive, flammability-related, and, of course, chemical properties. The second part generally include lists of substances that may not be contained in toys, substances that may be contained under certain concentrations, and migration limits. 

Other common features often consist of a requirement for manufacturers to affix warnings, ensure the toys’ traceability, and perform a conformity assessment prior to placing the toys on the market. Conformity assessment may be performed according to various modalities (e.g. self-assessment or third-party assessment) and normally results in the issuance of a declaration of conformity.

 

 



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