Safety of Toys Sold by Non-European Online Sellers – Recommendations for Economic Actors and Online Marketplaces

In April 2021, the European Commission launched a control campaign (CASP 2021) to assess the safety of toys sold by non-European sellers via online marketplaces. This campaign ran until June 2022.

This campaign focused specifically on checking the conformity and safety of these toys and ensuring that non-compliant and/or dangerous products were taken off the market.

The campaign focused on plastic toys and toys with plastic elements.

Six countries participated in this campaign, including Belgium, where the FPS Public Health contributed by overseeing compliance with chemical safety requirements under the REACH Regulation.

Advice to Economic Actors and Online Marketplaces

• Be aware of your obligations under applicable law and of the legal requirements in force. Before placing your toys on the market, you must ensure that their design and manufacture comply with the Toys Directive (2009/48/EC) and the Safety Standard for Toys (EN 71). This product category must bear the CE-marking. As proof, the competent authorities may request the EC declaration of conformity and supporting technical documentation.
• Honour your Product Safety Pledge (PSP) commitments. If, as an online marketplace, you are a signatory to the Product Safety Pledge (PSP), you must proactively identify product statements that match descriptions flagged in Safety Gate notifications, in order to prevent the same dangerous product from appearing under different statements.
• As an online marketplace, work closely with market supervision authorities (MSAs) when dangerous products are detected in order to prevent them from reappearing online.
• Make sure that the toys are traceable and bear the mandatory information: the name and address of the manufacturer and importer (if the manufacturer is established outside the EU) and an identification method of the toy. Under Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, each toy entering the EU must be accompanied by the name and contact details its responsible party in the EU.
• Check that the warnings and instructions are provided in the language(s) of the country where the toy is sold.
• Make sure that age warnings are correct. Toys clearly designed for children under 36 months, must meet the requirements for this category and not carry misleading age warnings indicating that the toy is not intended for this age group.
• Make sure that the toy's packaging meets all applicable safety requirements.
• Make sure that the specific warnings required for certain categories of toys such as water toys or toys with projectiles with specific hazards are clearly displayed.
• Be aware of the risks and avoid deceptively placing products on the market as toys. It is not allowed to market and design products that are not toys in such a way that parents and children could confuse them with toys. For example, floating seats, which are not toys, must not have playful elements that could create confusion or encourage parents to leave their children unattended while they use them. Their design and manufacture must comply with the requirements of the Code of Economic Law, Book IX on the Safety of Products and Services as well as the requirements of the NBN EN 13138-3 standard for floating seats. The affixing of the CE-marking is prohibited for these products.