consumer
The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved a directive to make toys safer. A quarter of European warnings about dangerous products now concern toys.
Thursday March 14, 2024 at 12:32
A ban on endocrine disrupting or carcinogenic chemicals, a mandatory product passport, better data protection for electronic toys… The European Parliament approved stricter rules for toys on Wednesday with 603 votes in favor and 5 votes against. The need for new standards is evident from the annual reporting of the EU Safety Gate, the body that warns about dangerous products on the European market. 23 percent of the reports in 2022 concerned toys.
The new regulations also apply to the many toys purchased online outside Europe. For example, it has been shown that dirt-cheap items from the Chinese online store Temu do not comply with European safety regulations. “Children love to play with slime, but a play package released eleven times more of the harmful substance boron than is permitted in Europe. Such a dangerous toy must be immediately banned from our market,” said European Parliament member Sara Matthieu van Groen.
Productpaspoort
Hilde Vautmans of the liberal Renew faction is happy that the incongruities have been resolved. “Cosmetics for adults are subject to strict health requirements, but make-up for children was classified as toys and the requirements were different. The list of banned harmful chemicals is now being expanded.”
The new directive also provides for stricter standards for electronic toys. This must ensure data protection from the design phase and comply with European rules on cyber security and artificial intelligence. Manufacturers will also have to consider the potential danger of electronic toys to children’s mental health and cognitive development.
To strengthen control and offer consumers more transparency about product composition, the European Parliament wants every toy to have a digital product passport from now on. Monitoring compliance with the rules remains a challenge. Matthieu points out that, despite strict controls by customs and the FPS Economy, many unsafe toys still enter Belgium, including from China. In Belgium, this concerns no fewer than 37 million packages per month and barely 170 customs officers have to check them. (ls)
