• Fewer toxic substances and greater controls thanks to the digital product passport: here's what's coming.
• The proposed toy safety regulation has reached agreement between the European Parliament and the Council, but final approval is still pending.
• Compared to current rules, there will be greater scrutiny of products imported from non-European countries, where standards are less stringent.

Children across Europe will soon have safer toys, made without toxic substances that could harm them. The decisive step — final approval — is still pending, but the European Parliament and Council have already reached an agreement on the toy safety regulation proposal presented by the Commission during the previous legislature, in July 2023. The new regulation will ban the use in toys of harmful chemical substances such as Pfas — chemical compounds known for their persistence in the environment and their harmful effects on human health — as well as other substances that act as endocrine disruptors, meaning they can interfere with the hormone production system that regulates the functions of the human body. When the new rules come into force, all toys will be required to carry a digital product passport, to prevent unsafe toys sold online and in physical stores from entering the European Union.

European Commission ✓ @EU_Commission

𝕏

Safer toys – safer for children, safer for Europe.

We welcome the agreement between @Europarl_EN and @EUCouncil on our proposal for safer toys in the EU.

Here's how ↓

♥ 312💬 92 11 apr 2025 · Apri su X →

Safer toys, including imported ones

The regulation establishes stricter rules on online sales and grants inspectors greater powers to remove dangerous toys from the market. The goal is to make imported toys at least as safe for consumers as toys manufactured in the EU, where standards are already stringent. The new regulation will in practice extend the existing rules for the internal market to imported toys as well, while updating safety requirements that dated back to 2009 and were in need of revision, particularly with regard to online sales. According to Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy of the European Union, the new rules "make toys sold online and in shops safer for children, giving consumers more information and inspectors more tools to identify and remove dangerous toys, and this will help create fairer competition and a level playing field for EU toy manufacturers".

More specifically, the agreement moves along two main lines. On one hand, greater protection from harmful chemical substances: in addition to substances already banned, the new regulation will prohibit the use of chemicals that act on the endocrine system (endocrine disruptors) or the respiratory system, those that can cause skin allergies or are toxic to a specific organ. It will also ban the use of bisphenols (chemical compounds that can be found in plastics, resins, and even food and beverage containers!) and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, the so-called Pfas, which in some parts of Italy have long been a genuine emergency.

Stéphane Séjourné ✓ @steph_sejourne

𝕏

Let's protect European children (& parents!)!

Agreement 🤝 on the new Toy Safety Regulation 🧸
👉 ban on certain chemical substances
👉 digital passport against dangerous toys entering the 🇪🇺 market
👉 more controls on toys sold online

♥ 22💬 2 10 apr 2025 · Apri su X →

The other area of action promotes better use of digital tools: under the new regulation, all toys will be required to carry a proper digital passport in the form of a data carrier, such as a QR code: this way, consumers or authorities will be able to easily view the product, its compliance status and other information relating to the toy. Importers will be required to present digital product passports at EU borders, including for toys sold online. A new IT system will check all digital product passports at the EU's external borders and identify shipments requiring in-depth customs checks. Controls on toys by national inspectors will also be facilitated, since the information will be readily available in the digital product passport. This will streamline action against unsafe toys in the EU and ensure that all toy manufacturers can compete on a fair and level playing field. The new regulation, which must still receive final approval, will not enter into force immediately, as it includes a transitional period to allow industry and authorities to adapt to the new rules.