Following the adoption of the new toy safety Directive by the Council on 11 May 2009 and its imminent publication in the Official Journal, traders interested in this area should be aware of further significant developments in the toy sector.

Firstly, together with the announcement of the adoption of the new toy safety Directive, the Council published a statement by the European Commission on the monitoring of safety aspects of the Directive. The Commission states that it will be monitoring developments relating to the implementation of the new Directive closely following its entry into force, in order to assess whether it provides for an adequate level of toy safety, in particular as regards the application of the necessary conformity assessment procedures which toys will need to undergo.

The revised toy safety Directive obliges Member States to report on the situation concerning the safety of toys, the effectiveness of the Directive and market surveillance conducted by Member States. The Commission states that its evaluation of the new Directive will be based, among other things, on the Member States' reports to be submitted three years following the date of application of the new Directive, with a particular focus on market surveillance in the EU and at its external borders. The Commission will report back to the European Parliament at the latest one year after submission of the Member States' reports.

The Commission also states that it will mandate the European standard's body (CEN) to establish a revised standard which limits the maximum values for both impulse noise and continuous noise emitted by toys, in order to adequately protect children from the risk of impairment of hearing. Taking into account the difficulties related to the relevant tests required in the harmonised toy standard EN 71:1 for books made of cardboard and paper, the Commission is also to mandate CEN to establish a revised standard which covers adequate testing for children's books.

Furthermore, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released a new version of its standard "ISO 8124-1:2009 Safety of Toys - Part 1: Safety Aspects Related to Mechanical and Physical Properties". The revised standard adds new requirements for toy scooters that address static and dynamic strength, brake performance, strength of steering tubes and other general concerns. It also consolidates a number of amendments into the previous version of ISO 8124-1:2000.

The revisions add new test methods for scooters to assess static strength, dynamic strength, brake performance and the strength of steering tubes. In addition safety-labeling guidelines and manufacturer's markings have been added.

Finally, a Commission Communication setting out the titles and references of harmonised standards under the current toy safety Directive 88/378/EEC has been published in the Official Journal. These include: 

• CEN standard "EN 71-1:2005+A6:2008 Safety of toys - Part 1: Mechanical and physical properties" which supersedes standard "EN 71-1:2005+A4:2007". The Commission makes particular note of the fact that for projectiles toys with suction cups with an impact area, the requirement laid down in the standard according to which the tension test is performed, does not cover the risk of asphyxiation presented by these toys.
• CEN standard "EN 71-2:2006+A1:2007 Safety of toys - Part 2:'Flammability" which superseded standard "EN 71-2:2006";
• CEN standards "EN 71-3:1994 Safety of toys - Part 3: Migration of certain elements", "EN 71-3:1994/A1:2000", "EN 71-3:1994/A1:2000/AC:2000" and "EN 71-3:1994/AC:2002" which superseded standard "EN 71-3:1988";
• CEN standard "EN 71-4:1990 Safety of toys - Part 4: Experimental sets for chemistry and related activities", "EN 71-4:1990/A1:1998", "EN 71-4:1990/A2:2003" and "EN 71-4:1990/A3:2007";
• CEN standard "EN 71-5:1993 Safety of toys - Part 5: Chemical toys (sets) other than experimental sets" and "EN 71-5:1993/A1:2006";
• CEN standard " EN 71-6:1994 Safety of toys - Part 6: Graphical symbol for age warning labelling";
• CEN standard "EN 71-7:2002 Safety of toys - Part 7: Finger paints - Requirements and test methods";
• CEN standard "EN 71-8:2003 Safety of toys - Part 8: Swings, slides and similar activity toys for indoor and outdoor family domestic use" and "EN 71-8:2003/A1:2006"; and
• CENELEC standard "EN 62115:2005 Electric toys - Safety IEC 62115:2003 (Modified) + A1:2004" which superseded CENELEC standard "EN 50088:1996+A1:1996 +A2:1997+A3:2002".

The Commission Communication can be accessed at:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2009:087:0002:0004:EN:PDF