What changed between the draft committee report of 8 Nov 2023 and the draft committee report of 3 Nov 2025

Removed:EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Removed:The EU single market for safe toys has been a major achievement for the protection of children while removing the barriers to the free movement of toys within the Union to the benefits of companies, which are mostly constituted by small and medium sized enterprises.

Removed:While it must be recognized that the framework built by Directive 2009/48/EC - the ‘Toy Safety Directive’ - has made the EU the safest place for toys in the world, new challenges have arisen, for example, from the changes in the purchasing habits brought by online marketplaces and from new technologies. Greater efforts must be undertaken to overcome these challenges, and reduce the number of unsafe toys circulating in the single market (toys are still amongst the most notified categories of products in the EU Safety Gate system for non-food dangerous products).

Removed:The current Toy Safety Directive should therefore be revised to ensure that consumers can count on a high level of safety for all products and that this safety is effectively monitored. This revision should also prioritise the removal of potential barriers to the development of disruptive technologies, as stated by the European Parliament in its resolution of 25 November 2020 on addressing product safety in the single market (2019/2190(INI)). Furthermore, the Parliament called for a broader approach for this revision through its resolution of 16 February 2022 on the implementation of the Toy Safety Directive (2021/2040(INI)), in order to enhance its effectiveness and efficiency and avoid implementation inconsistencies among Member States and market fragmentation.

Removed:The rapporteur is satisfied that the Commission has chosen a Regulation on toy safety to replace the Directive. This will not just strengthen the level of protection of children from possible risks but will also strengthen a harmonised protection system while providing for a level playing field between toys manufactured in the EU and abroad.

Removed:The key principle of the Rapporteur in drafting the report was therefore the protection of children as the most vulnerable consumers. With this perspective, the Rapporteur welcomes the ban on CMRs and endocrine disruptors, and, with regard to other chemicals, suggests a proportionate approach if children are not exposed to them.

Removed:With regard to the obligations for the economic operators, the rules for manufacturers, importers and distributors need to be coherent with currently adopted legislation, in particular the General Product Safety Regulation. Further to that, administrative burdens should be avoided, since they might create barriers to market access and will not help to improve toy safety. Additionally, SMEs need more help to comply with the future new set of rules set out by the Regulation. In particular, the product passport might cause an administrative burden to SMEs. The Rapporteur therefore suggests for the Commission to provide SMEs with tailor-made guidance on how to set up a product passport for their toys and also an automatic translation tools for the different languages of the Member States in which the SMEs want to make available their toys.

Removed:Issues may arise due to the fact that the new Ecodesign for sustainable products Regulation is not yet adopted, while this proposal refer to that Regulation when it comes to the use of the digital product passport. In any case, even if the uncertainties concerning the digital product passport are addressed, the relevant information requirements in the context of the toy safety regulation should be applied only with regard to toy safety related matters and should not cover other elements, such as those related to the substances of concern. The specific environmental issues are subject to other pieces of legislation. Therefore, overlapping should be avoided, to allow legal certainty in the interest of consumers, companies and market surveillance authorities who will have to enforce the new rules.

Removed:Within this context, the product passport is an interesting solution as an effective tool for the market surveillance of products, including products entering the territory of the Union, but it could also do more than that. The Rapporteur has identified four specific aspects with regard to the product passport:

Removed:a) it should allow consumers to get the information needed in case they want to complain about the safety of a product;

Removed:b) it should replace all declarations of conformity, also the one foreseen in radio equipment directive;

Removed:c) it should be organised in different sections with different access rights for market surveillance authorities and consumers, since sensitive commercial information and trade secrets should be protected;

Removed:d) its technical specifications should be set out through delegated acts and at least 12 months after the entry into force of the legislation, to give the toy industry 18 months to adapt to the new system.

Removed:Furthermore, in general, industry needs enough time to adapt to new legislation, in particular because of the standards that need to be updated, the possible derogations and transitional period. The transitional period therefore should be modified.