Revision of the Toy Safety Directive

The European Commission is working on the revision of Directive 2009/48/EC on the safety of toys (the so-called Toy Safety Directive), which sets out safety and other requirements toys must meet before they can be placed on the EU market. In 2018-2020, the European Commission carried out an evaluation of the Toy Safety Directive, and what emerged is that both the protection of health and safety of children and market surveillance could be improved. With the revision of the Directive, the European Commission intends to address these shortcomings. The focus of this work will be most notably on chemical risks. The European Commission has in fact explained that it is considering extending the generic approach to risk management (i.e. “restricting certain substances in products for certain users while allowing limited exemptions under conditions clearly defined in law”) beyond CMRs substances to other most hazardous substances such as EDs or substances that are persistent and bioaccumulative. It is also considering the following policy options: allowing the setting of chemical limit values for any toys and not only for those intended for children under 36 months; addressing combination effects of chemicals due to the simultaneous exposure to multiple chemicals; setting out requirements for the labelling of chemical composition of toys, incl. via digital labelling; addressing new risks in internet-connected toys which have recently emerged, incl. with respect to artificial intelligence. This initiative is thus likely to result in additional costs and requirements for manufacturers. For further information, please click here. The European Commission is expected to unveil its proposal on the revision of the Toys Safety Directive in the fourth quarter of 2022.