Time for everyone to play by the rules – The New EU Toy Safety Regulation is here

Last week, the European institutions reached an agreement on the new Toy Safety Regulation, after two years of hard work and intense negotiations. The final text still needs to be officially approved, translated, and published. The Regulation will most likely come into force sometime this autumn.  

The toy sector will need secondary legislation, such as standards and clear guidance on the Digital Product Passport we will need to affix on every toy, to be able to properly implement the new rules. This is why it is a relief to see that we will have 54 months, this is until spring 2030, to ensure our toys meet the new requirements. Anything shorter would have been unworkable.

The new Regulation will be a step up from the existing Toy Safety Directive, which is already the strictest toy legislation in the world. Did you know that even today, a doll’s shirt is subject to more stringent rules than a child’s?  

Reputable toy makers have always put safety first. This takes extra effort and investment. Under the new rules – which often require a different approach – that effort and investment will most likely need to increase.

This is why proper enforcement is more important than ever. Stricter rules won’t help if it is still easy to ignore them. This week, the European Commission published the results of its 2024 Safety Gate Report. Once again, toys rank high in the ‘unsafe products’ category list.  At TIE, colleagues monitor the Safety Gate alerts every week. We know that the vast majority of notified toys are made by companies who have no intention of playing by the rules.

This cannot go on. Without better enforcement, the new Regulation risks harming both children and reputable businesses. More parents will buy the non-compliant ‘bargain’, widening the gap between those who follow the rules and those who don’t. The Regulation introduces a Digital Product Passport to help block illegal products at the border, but experience shows that determined rogue traders will find ways around the rules. 

TIE’s research has revealed several times that a major and growing source of unsafe toys is online platforms selling non-compliant toys from non-EU sellers. These platforms must be held legally responsible for the safety of the toys they help sell when no-one else is. If not, the back door for the import of unsafe toys will remain wide open. The European Commission seems to have understood the problem and its recently launched e-Commerce Communication seems like a clear declaration of intent.

TIE’s members and the EU negotiators have a shared goal: keeping children safe. But this can only be achieved if everyone plays by the same (new) rules.