Dinosaurs, dolls or dragons: chemicals that represent risks to the health and development of children will be prohibited in toys sold in the European Union. The European Parliament and the Council have reached a provisional agreement on more strict security requirements for manufacturers and vendors, including those operating on online platforms. The prohibition will cover chemicals that can cause cancer, alter DNA or harm the reproductive organs.
Dangerous products are almost everywhere in our daily lives, most of them are in cosmetics (36%), according to the data provided by the European Commission. But surprisingly, toys are the second largest category of products considered more dangerous (15%), ahead of appliances (10%). And the dangers of toys were more often related to chemicals.
One in five products marked as dangerous and eliminated from the EU market is a toy. That is why, before introducing a toy in the market, manufacturers must now make a security evaluation that covers all potential risks. And toys now need a digital product passport in the form of a QR code that demonstrates compliance with security standards.
But even the best security legislation cannot prevent bad actors from selling illicit toys, so Europol has published guidelines on how to recognize false and dangerous toys: if the price is too good to be true, if the mandatory labels are missing, if the toy is sold in a transparent plastic bag instead of a normal packaging or the name of the brand or the instructions contain errors, then they do not sell it!
Marion Walsmann (PPE), vice president of the Legal Affairs Commission of the European Parliament, was the main negotiator in the toy security file. The MEPTE told Euronews that there is broad political support in the legislation. “And there was a broad consensus that the previous regulation, dating from 2009, should even be reviewed. There was also a general consensus on the change of a directive to a regulation.”
Walsmann has also defined the calendar: “The next step is that it is still necessary to make some technical improvements and formulations. Then, the internal market committee will approve it again by vote. Then it will be presented to the October plenary session for the final vote and the subsequent publication in the official magazine of the European Union. Then it will enter into force and will enter into force from 2029”.
With the rules of the magazine, the European Union offers children as safe toys. Children will be better protected against invisible dangers, such as harmful chemicals, including endocrine deregulators and pafa, also known as “chemical products forever.” And parents will have access to all the necessary information about each of the toys.
