EU Lowers Toy Migration Limits for Lead

The European Union (EU) has confirmed it intends to lower the permissible migration limits for lead in all three toy material categories by 6 to 7-fold. The new limits will be issued under the Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC (TSD) and are expected to come into effect in the third quarter of 2018.

Under the amended regulation, the migration limits for lead will drop in all three categories of toy material. These are:

• Category I - Dry, brittle, powder-like or pliable, eg. chalk, compressed paint tablets, crayons, plaster of Paris, magic sand, modelling compounds, plasticine, oven hardened PVC modelling compounds and bouncing putties
• Category II - Liquid or sticky toy, eg. bubble solutions, finger paints, liquid adhesives, poster paints and slimes
• Category III - Scraped-off, eg. ceramics, glass, metals and metal alloys, textiles, wood, elastomers, leatherettes, polymers, surface coating materials, and other materials, such as bones, leather and natural sponges

Under the new regulations, the permissible migration limits of lead will drop considerably for each category:

• Category I – from 13.5 to 2 mg/kg
• Category II – from 3.4 to 0.5 mg/kg
• Category III – from 160 to 23 mg/kg

The EU originally signalled its intentions regarding lead migration limits in toys, in a draft regulation attached to World Trade Organization (WTO) document number 14-5405 (notification G/TBT/N/EU/243), issued on September 25, 2014. This was confirmed on August 18, 2016, when the WTO circulated WTO document number 16-4443 (notification G/TBT/N/EU/243 add.1).

The new draft regulation is expected to be adopted in the first quarter of 2017, with an effective date 18 months after its publication in the Official Journal. Stakeholders working in the Toy and Juvenile sector should therefore check compliance with the new regulations by the third quarter, 2018.

SGS EU Toy Safety Directive Services
SGS offers a wide range of services to ensure that your products comply with the EU Toy Safety Directive. We offer training, safety/risk assessment, technical documentation check, labelling review, testing according to harmonised standards, SVHC screening, inspections and audits. With a network of around 20 toy labs around the world, including 3 EU Notified Bodies (France, Germany and Netherlands), SGS can help you with every aspect toy production – from development to manufacturing and compliance. Learn more about SGS’s EU Toy Safety Directive Services (www.sgs.com/en/consumer-goods-retail/toys-and-juvenile-products/toys/eu-toy-safety-directive)

SGS SafeGuardS keep you up to date with the latest news and developments in the consumer goods industry. Read the full EU Retains Proposed Migration Limits for Lead in Toys SafeGuardS. (www.sgs.com/en/news/2016/09/safeguards-14816-eu-retains-proposed-migration-limits-for-lead-in-toys)

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For further information contact:

Hingwo Tsang
Global Hardlines Information and Innovation Manager
Tel: (+852) 2774 7420
Email: cts.media@sgs.com
Website: http://www.sgs.com/toys

About SGS
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 85,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1,800 offices and laboratories around the world.

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This release was published on openPR.