Toy Industries of Europe calls for chemicals legislation 'referee'

EU decision-making 'undermined by political considerations'

Industry group Toy Industries of Europe (TIE) has called for an 'EU referee' to intervene when member states disagree on chemical restrictions.

TIE says that decision making is "seriously undermined" by political considerations and interferences that have "nothing to do" with sound science. It says it frequently sees compromise decisions that are not based on evidence and end up being a "burden" for the industry.

The association is one of several industry groups, NGOs and member states, to submit comments to the European Commission's consultation on the regulatory fitness of chemicals legislation excluding REACH.

The Commission, or an independent party, could act as referee, it suggests. This would ensure "official expert understanding of EU law prevails".

For example, TIE says France has made attempts to impose diverging toy safety requirements, which it says are unscientific, breach EU legislation and the internal market and can cause an "enormous economic impact on industry without improving safety".

In such instances, it says, the Commission should "call member states to order before it is too late" to ensure consistent implementation and enforcement.

Enforcement of regulations on toys is challenging when it comes to online sales, TIE says. "It is clear that market surveillance here is more difficult, and it is important that authorities enforce the toy safety Directive (TSD) also by checking internet channels."

It says that EU toy safety requirements are the strictest in the world, but they become "useless" without proper enforcement. Statistics from Rapex – the EU's rapid alert system for dangerous consumer products – show "around 96% of notifications of toys come from rogue traders, who will always try to circumvent the rules regardless of how strict they are".