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Toy safety directive

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  Directive

Toy safety Directive (2009/48/EC)

  Scope

This Directive shall apply to products designed or intended, whether or not exclusively, for use in play by children under 14 years of age (hereinafter referred to as toys).

The products listed in Annex I shall not be considered as toys within the meaning of this Directive.

EXCLUSIONS

This Directive shall not apply to the following toys:

  • Playground equipment intended for public use;
  • Automatic playing machines, whether coin operated or not, intended for public use;
  • Toy vehicles equipped with combustion engines;
  • Toy steam engines; and
  • Slings and catapults.

ANNEX I

List of products that, in particular, are not considered as toys within the meaning of this Directive (as referred to in Article 2(1)):

  • Decorative objects for festivities and celebrations
  • Products for collectors, provided that the product or its packaging bears a visible and legible indication that it is intended for collectors of 14 years of age and above. Examples of this category are:
    • Detailed and faithful scale models;
    • Kits for the assembly of detailed scale models;
    • Folk dolls and decorative dolls and other similar articles;
    • Historical replicas of toys; and
    • Reproductions of real fire arms.
  • Sports equipment, including roller skates, inline skates, and skateboards intended for children with a body mass of more than 20 kg
  • Bicycles with a maximum saddle height of more than 435 mm, measured as the vertical distance from the ground to the top of the seat surface, with the seat in a horizontal position and with the seat pillar set to the minimum insertion mark
  • Scooters and other means of transport designed for sport or which are intended to be used for travel on public roads or public pathways
  • Electrically driven vehicles which are intended to be used for travel on public roads, public pathways, or the pavement thereof
  • Aquatic equipment intended to be used in deep water, and swimming learning devices for children, such as swim seats and swimming aids
  • Puzzles with more than 500 pieces
  • Guns and pistols using compressed gas, with the exception of water guns and water pistols, and bows for archery over 120 cm long
  • Fireworks, including percussion caps which are not specifically designed for toys
  • Products and games using sharp-pointed missiles, such as sets of darts with metallic points
  • Functional educational products, such as electric ovens, irons or other functional products operated at a nominal voltage exceeding 24 volts which are sold exclusively for teaching purposes under adult supervision
  • Products intended for use for educational purposes in schools and other pedagogical contexts under the surveillance of an adult instructor, such as science equipment
  • Electronic equipment, such as personal computers and game consoles, used to access interactive software and their associated peripherals, unless the electronic equipment or the associated peripherals are specifically designed for and targeted at children and have a play value on their own, such as specially designed personal computers, key boards, joy sticks or steering wheels
  • Interactive software, intended for leisure and entertainment, such as computer games, and their storage media, such as CDs
  • Babies’ soothers
  • Child-appealing luminaires
  • Electrical transformers for toys
  • Fashion accessories for children which are not for use in play

DEFINITIONS

For the purposes of this Directive the following definitions shall apply:

  • ‘Functional product’ means a product which performs and is used in the same way as a product, appliance or installation intended for use by adults, and which may be a scale model of such product, appliance or installation;
  • ‘Functional toy’ means a toy which performs and is used in the same way as a product, appliance or installation intended for use by adults, and which may be a scale model of such product, appliance or installation;
  • ‘Aquatic toy’ means a toy intended for use in shallow water which is capable of carrying or supporting a child on the water;
  • ‘Design speed’ means representative potential operating speed that is determined by the design of the toy;
  • ‘Activity toy’ means a toy for domestic use in which the support structure remains stationary while the activity is taking place and which is intended for the performance by a child of any of the following activities: climbing, jumping, swinging, sliding, rocking, spinning, crawling and creeping, or any combination thereof;
  • ‘Chemical toy’ means a toy intended for the direct handling of chemical substances and mixtures and which is used in a manner appropriate to a given age-group and under the supervision of an adult;
  • ‘Olfactory board game’ means a toy the purpose of which is to assist a child to learn to recognise different odours or flavours;
  • ‘Cosmetic kit’ means a toy the purpose of which is to assist a child to learn to make products such as fragrances, soaps, creams, shampoos, bath foams, glosses, lipsticks, other make-up, tooth-paste and conditioners;
  • ‘Gustative game’ means a toy the purpose of which is to allow children to make sweets or dishes which involve the use of food ingredients such as sweets, liquids, powders and aromas;
  • ‘Intended for use by’ means that a parent or supervisor shall reasonably be able to assume by virtue of the functions, dimensions and characteristics of a toy that it is intended for use by children of the stated age group.

  Description

The Directive lays down the safety criteria that toys must meet before they can be marketed in the EU. Toys must also comply with any other EU legislation applicable to them. The essential safety requirements cover:

  • General risks: the health and safety of children, as well as other people such as parents or caregivers
  • Particular risks: physical and mechanical, flammability, chemical, electrical, hygiene and radioactivity risks
The Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC replaced the former Directive 88/378/EEC. It adapted the legal framework to technological developments and previously unknown safety issues. The application and enforcement are aligned with the so-called 'New Legislative Framework'.

The new Directive had to be transposed by the EU Member States into their national legislation by 20 January 2011 and has applied since 20 July 2011. The chemical safety requirements have applied since 20 July 2013.

  Harmonised standards

EN 71-5:2015 Safety of toys - Part 5: Chemical toys (sets) other than experimental sets
EN 71-1:2014+A1:2018 Safety of toys - Part 1: Mechanical and physical properties
EN 71-8:2018 Safety of toys - Part 8: Activity toys for domestic use
EN 71-14:2018 Safety of toys - Part 14: Trampolines for domestic use
EN 71-7:2014+A3:2020 Safety of toys - Part 7: Finger paints - Requirements and test methods
EN 71-12:2016 Safety of toys - Part 12: N-Nitrosamines and N-nitrosatable substances
EN IEC 62115:2020 Electric toys - Safety
EN IEC 62115:2020/A11:2020 Electric toys - Safety
EN 71-2:2020 Safety of toys - Part 2: Flammability
EN 71-3:2019+A1:2021 Safety of toys - Part 3: Migration of certain elements
Show all the standards...
EN 71-5:2015
Safety of toys - Part 5: Chemical toys (sets) other than experimental sets
EN 71-1:2014+A1:2018
Safety of toys - Part 1: Mechanical and physical properties
EN 71-8:2018
Safety of toys - Part 8: Activity toys for domestic use
EN 71-14:2018
Safety of toys - Part 14: Trampolines for domestic use
EN 71-7:2014+A3:2020
Safety of toys - Part 7: Finger paints - Requirements and test methods
EN 71-12:2016
Safety of toys - Part 12: N-Nitrosamines and N-nitrosatable substances
EN IEC 62115:2020
Electric toys - Safety
EN IEC 62115:2020/A11:2020
Electric toys - Safety
EN 71-2:2020
Safety of toys - Part 2: Flammability
EN 71-3:2019+A1:2021
Safety of toys - Part 3: Migration of certain elements
Show all the standards...

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