cover image: The EU Toy Safety Directive

20.500.12592/5fbnqb

The EU Toy Safety Directive

29 Apr 2021

The Toy Safety Directive (TSD) aims to ensure a high level of health and safety with respect to toys for children under 14 years of age and to guarantee the free movement of toys in the EU by means of provisions for manufacturers, importers, distributors of toys sold in the EU and national market surveillance authorities. More than 10 years after its adoption in 2009, the European Commission is considering a revision of the directive in the context of the chemicals strategy for sustainability. Although the exact scope of this revision has still to be decided, the European Commission highlighted areas for further improvement in a recent evaluation of the directive. The Commission's evaluation focused on: a general lack of monitoring data to assess the TSD's effectiveness; limit values for some chemical substances; and the question of whether limit values should apply not only to toys for children under 36 months, but also to children of all ages. In addition, the evaluation looked into the issue of market surveillance and enforcement, where resources appear be missing and discussed the difficulties for manufacturers to comply with the 'small parts requirement' for toys intended for children under 36 months. This briefing has been produced by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) to assist the European Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection in its work on the implementation report on the Toy Safety Directive. The briefing aims to provide a succinct overview of publicly available material on the implementation, application and effectiveness to date of the Toy Safety Directive, drawing on input from EU institutions and bodies and from external organisations.
consumer protection evaluation of law and policy in practice

Authors

ECKHARD BINDER, MARIE-ASTRID HUEMER

Published in
Belgium

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