Toy Directive correctly applied: These requirements result for your CE-compliant product

Toys play an important role in the development of a child, so they must be safe for children. Ensuring that toys marketed in the EU do not endanger children is an important priority. EU legislation is designed to ensure that toys meet the world's most stringent safety requirements, especially with regarding to the use of chemicals in toys.

The Directive lays down the safety criteria that toys must meet before they can be placed on the EU market. Toys must also comply with all other EU legislation applicable to them, which are divided into two groups:

The Directive defines toys as: "Products intended to be used by children under 14 years of age to play, whether or not exclusively". The scope of the directive covers the defined products, except for the following:

As the Directive contains basic safety requirements (i.e., general principles only), the technical details are regulated in harmonized standards (EN 71 and EN 62115).

Toys placed on the market in the EEC must comply with the relevant Community legislation in order to guarantee public interests such as health and safety through consumer and environmental protection.

Economic operators to whom Directive 2009/48/EC on the safety of toys imposes explicit obligations include manufacturers and their authorized representatives, importers and distributors, as set out in the following table:

All European directives and regulations on CE marking oblige manufacturers of non-food products to produce technical documentation before the final declaration of conformity which can also be used as "technical documentation" or "dossier" is referred to. The technical documentation shall demonstrate that a product meets the relevant product safety requirements. The technical dossier

The CE declaration of conformity is a legal document in which a manufacturer formally declares that a product complies with the essential health, safety and environmental requirements of the relevant directives.

Conformity assessment is the process by which a manufacturer proves that its toys meet the essential safety requirements of the Directive. The directive lays down exactly who has to carry out the procedure and how it works. Depending on the type of toy, the conformity assessment can be carried out using one of two methods: self-assessment or third-party testing.

Self-examination is applied in cases where harmonized standards cover all relevant safety aspects of a toy. In this case, the manufacturer must apply the existing harmonized standards and ensure that the toy complies with these standards. The manufacturer must also introduce an internal production process that does not require the involvement of a notified body. easyCE is available to advise or actively assist you with the entire process on request.

Testing by third parties, often referred to as "EC type examination", is required if:

Notified bodies (BS or notified bodies BS) carry out EC type-examination and issue EC type-examination certificates. EC type-examination is one of the two possible conformity assessment procedures for placing toys on the EU market. The notified bodies are designated by the individual EU countries.

The aim of the safety assessment is to identify the potential hazards of a toy and to assess the potential exposure to those hazards. The aim of the conformity assessment procedure, however, is to prove that the toy complies with the essential safety requirements of the Directive.

The CE documentation is created and the CE marking is affixed, and the expertise of easyCE is also available for these steps.

Toy products must bear the CE mark to indicate their conformity and only then may they be sold on the EU market. The CE marking must be permanently attached to the product, packaging and instructions for use. They must:

Necessary documents include:

Specific warnings are required for certain categories of toys and can be found in Annex V to the Toys Directive.