EU industry chief unveils toy safety crackdown

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The EU industry chief unveiled plans on Friday to revise the bloc’s toy safety standards with a ban on some chemicals and on packaging toys as giveaways with foods such as sweets or cereals.

An overhaul of European Union toy safety rules has been in the pipeline for years, but was speeded up after the recall of over 20 mln Chinese-made toys last year due to excessive lead paint and other unsafe parts.

Enterprise Commissioner Guenther Verheugen said he wanted to limit the quantity of chemicals used in toys, such as lead paint, and wanted a complete ban on toys containing carcinogens across the bloc from 2009.

He wanted stricter rules on packaging toys as gifts with food items, confirming a Reuters report of Jan. 18. The fear is that children could choke on the packaging around such toys.

“Health and safety of children is non-negotiable and cannot be subject to any compromises. That is why we have to ensure that toys put on the market in Europe are safe,” Verheugen told a news conference.

“Companies are now called to live up to their responsibilities to ensure that children can enjoy playing with toys without risks.

Verheugen added that the idea of a new mandatory EU-wide standard to replace the self-regulated “CE” mark would be dealt with later in the year as part of an overall review by Brussels of the bloc’s internal market.