Copy of What makes a toy safe? - Toy Industries of Europe

Toy safety is our members’ number one priority: children need to be safe when playing with their toys.

Rigorous safety processes EU toy safety legislation is the strictest in the world Unreputable toy manufacturers threaten toy safety TIE helps shape strong toy safety rules

Rigorous safety processes

Reputable toymakers apply rigorous safety processes to their toys. - A safe toy will withstand a rigorous safety assessment and testing and meet the highest international standards. Toymakers will design the toy with safety in mind, knowing where potential risks need to be countered. They will choose their suppliers carefully and will test materials. Once a prototype is made, it will undergo the necessary safety tests – until the manufacturer is satisfied all the necessary safety requirements are met. Then they will need to ensure that the production process is stable throughout and does not influence any of the safety aspects. Regular extra testing of different batches may be called for. The manufacturer then draws up a declaration of conformity and will add the CE marking to the toy. When asked by the authorities, they will have to produce the declaration of conformity within 30 days.

EU toy safety legislation is the strictest in the world

The European Toy Safety Directive is one of the strictest toy safety legislations available. All toys that meet the requirements of the Directive are safe. The Directive is written in such a way as to make it easy to adapt to new scientific data, should they become available. Since its inception in 1989, it has undergone two changes and 17 adaptations. In 2023 it will be reviewed and an updated version proposed.

With the Directive come thirteen standards that toy manufacturers use to ensure they are meeting all the requirements. New additional chemical standards are currently being prepared.

Besides the Toy Safety Directive, there are other pieces of legislation that are less toy-specific, which also need to be complied with. For instance, the REACH Regulation sets restrictions for harmful substances such as plasticizers and some constituents of dyes The Food Contact Materials legislation sets rules for toys that may come into contact with foodstuffs. And the Cosmetic Products Regulation applies to chemicals used in toys that contain cosmetics.

When a reputable manufacturer has complied with all necessary pieces of legislation, they will apply the CE (Conformité Européenne) marking, which is his ‘declaration of conformity’. They are the most suitable actor in the supply chain to do this as they have designed the toy and have supervised the manufacturing process. They know where extra external testing is needed to be sure there is indeed conformity with the rules.

Unreputable toy manufacturers threaten toy safety

Unfortunately, there are untrustworthy operators on the market who prioritise profit over safety. For example, they will falsely give their toys a CE marking. As illustrated in TIE’s 2020 Online Marketplaces Report, there is a growing amount of unsafe and counterfeit toys sold on online platforms by third-party sellers. In our mystery shopping exercise, 97% of toys bought from third-party sellers on Amazon, eBay, AliExpress and Wish were non-compliant with EU law and 76% of those assessed were deemed unsafe for children.

To avoid buying such unsafe toys, we advise anyone about to buy a toy – online or elsewhere -to follow our Toy Safety Tips.

TIE helps shape strong toy safety rules

Since the first European toy safety regulation 30 years ago, the toy industry has contributed to shaping toy safety rules.

We’ve shared our expertise with the European Commission for guidance documents on a number of complex subjects within the Toy Safety Directive. This includes guidance on toys for children under 36 months and guidance on toys that can be put in the mouth.

We participate in the EU’s Toy Safety Expert Group to help explain how to interpret different aspects of the Toy Safety Directive.

We work with the standardization bodies CEN-CENELEC to offer concrete advice on how certain standards will best guarantee safety, along with national experts, consumer groups, xxxx

We act as a guardian of toy safety and call for more protection where this is needed. Our 2020 Online Marketplaces Report, based on a mystery shopping exercise developed together with our national member organisations, led us to argue for the fixing of regulatory gaps that currently allow the sale of unsafe toys. We continue to call on European and national authorities to enforce existing toy safety rules on unreputable traders. New rules are unlikely to deter them: they will merely continue business as usual. The best solution is strong enforcement with consequences for those that ignore them.