CEN publishes new and revised EU toy standards

1. July, 2013

Relevant for: Toys & children's products

On 30 June 2009 the new Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC was published. The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) was requested to revise existing and draw up new standards that meet requirements of toy directive. CEN Technical Committee 52 (CEN/TC 52) had adopted a work plan for the proposal, development, adoption and publication of toy safety standards.

After nearly four years standardisation process, CEN has recently published new and revised EN 71 standards relating to chemical safety of toys as shown in table A.

Table A - CEN new and revised EU toy standards

EN 71-3, EN 71-4 and EN 71-5 have been revised to align with the chemical requirements of toy directive, which takes effect from 20 July 2013. The first publication of EN 71-12 specifies the requirements and test methods for nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances in elastomers (both natural and synthetic) and finger paints. Among the new chemical requirements that will come into force, TSD states that ≥ 0.05 mg/kg nitrosamines and ≥ 1 mg/kg nitrosatable substances should be prohibited for use in toys by children under 36 months or in other toys intended to be placed in the mouth.

Harmonisation of toy standards
On May 28, 2013, the reference to the new harmonised toy standard EN 71-4:2013 was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). It is the first chemical standard to be harmonised under 2009/48/EC. While for EN 71-3, EN 71-5 and EN 71-12, it is widely expected that will be officially accepted by European Commission before the enforcement date of 20 July 2013.

References:
CEN EN71 published standards on safety of toys
Official Journal of the European Union