Safety
2011 is the year when manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers need to ask, "What is in your product", "Where is it made?", "Does it contain...?".
The European Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC came into force on 20th July 2011 and covers "Products designed or intended, whether or not exclusively, for use in play by children under 14 years of age."
Key requirements of the new Directive are:
- Tolerable limit values for certain substances have been reduced
- Certain substances such as lead or mercury may no longer be used intentionally in toys
- New rules apply to allergenic fragrances
- CMRs (Carcinogenic, Mutagenic or toxic for Reproduction) must no longer be accessible
- All manufacturers must maintain a technical file for 10 years after placing a toy on the market
- Measures must be in place to ensure series production conformity
- All products must be traceable by product coding, batch coding etc.
- Risk assessments should be carried out before a product is manufactured
- All products must have a declaration of conformity available on request
These are just some examples of the enhanced obligations our industry must take on board. As an industry we must ensure our products are safe and produced to the highest standards. As an association, Equitoy has been working on addressing these issues for some time with the help of our safety adviser and can offer the guidance and sample documentation to help member companies meet their defined obligations.
