Sweden drafts exemple of law of new toy safety

On 3 February 2011, the Swedish government published a bill proposing new legislation on the safety of toys. The new law will regulate toys that are placed on the market by economic operators, as well as toys destined for the public sector, e.g. nursery schools and medical waiting rooms, and sets out technical requirements on safety, labelling and documentation. Sweden notified the European Commission of the proposed new legislation on 13 December 2010 under the EU’s information procedure for technical rules.

The new Swedish legislation will transpose Directive 2009/48/EC on the safety of toys (“Toy Safety Directive”) which substantially amends the old Directive 88/378/EEC on toy safety, and aims at putting into practice the newest health and safety standards while improving existing rules on the safety aspects of toys. EU Member States were required to transpose the new Directive into their national laws by 20 January 2011 at the latest, and they must ensure that the national legislation enters into force by no later than 20 July 2011.

As for the draft Swedish legislation as a whole, it sets out obligations on manufacturers, importers and distributors of toy products. The obligations of manufacturers include ensuring that the toys have been designed and manufactured in accordance with specific requirements; carrying out a conformity assessment procedure; and drawing up an EC declaration of conformity. Importers and distributors, on the other hand, must ensure that the manufacturers have carried out their obligations and, if they have a reason to believe that the toy presents a risk, to not place the toy on the market until it has been brought into conformity.

The Commission and the Member States have until 14 March 2011 to examine the notified legislative act during the standstill period (extendable by three more months). Should they not consider that the draft legislation risks creating obstacles to the free movement of goods within the EU, the new Swedish legislation is expected to enter into force on 20 July 2011.

The provision notified to the Commission stipulates that the new Swedish legislation on toy safety is equally applicable to toys that are placed on the market by economic operators and toys that are destined for the public sector, even when the latter had not previously been placed on the market by a market player.This means that the scope of the draft law is more far-reaching than the scope of the Toy Safety Directive as it covers the non-commercial supply of toys by public bodies.

Industry should be aware of the changes of the draft,though it has’t vote through. It will be a new challenge for us, if the new toy safty legislation enter into effective.

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