As the voice of reputable toy manufactures, TIE welcomes the adoption of the new Regulation on Compliance and Enforcement by the European Parliament today.
The agreement can help to prevent the sale of unsafe toys by dishonest operators and, in doing so, protect children throughout the EU. The development reinforces the EU’s strong toy safety framework and ensures a more level-playing field for reputable manufacturers who prioritise toy safety.
The new rules improve market surveillance by strengthening coordination and cooperation between authorities and increasing the focus on products that pose real safety risks. We are very happy to see that that the Regulation provides authorities with better tools to take action against unsafe toys being sold online.
We particularly appreciate that the Regulation opens space for further collaboration with responsible stakeholders, for example through the newly established Union Product Compliance Network. Authorities can look to the wealth of product-specific expertise of reputable toy companies to facilitate well-balanced decision making and ensure the rules are systematically applied by member states.
The adoption of the Regulation is a positive step towards more effective market surveillance action in the EU. However, we need a smart handling of the new rules by market surveillance authorities for them to have a real impact on the safety of products and consumers. This means targeting operators who clearly have no intention of following the rules and taking proportionate and dissuasive action to deter illegal traders – whether they are selling goods online or in bricks and mortar shops.
Catherine Van Reeth, Director General of Toy Industries of Europe (TIE) said “The Regulation on Compliance and Enforcement paves the way for more effective market surveillance and has the potential to positively impact the safety of toys sold in the EU. Its success will now depend on authorities working intelligently by targeting illegal traders who don’t care about the EU’s strict toy safety rules and taking proportionate and dissuasive action against those placing unsafe toys on the market”
