TOY COMPANIES should be required to show the products they import are not made with child labour, an Oireachtas committee has recommended.
The Committee on European Scrutiny says EU-wide proposals should be drafted to ensure that all companies importing toys into the EU act in an ethically and socially responsible manner.
In a report on toy safety, the committee calls for the obligatory collection of toy-related injury data so that the risks posed by toys can be properly assessed.
Over 118,000 toys were recalled from the Irish market between 2002 and 2007 due to safety concerns, the report says.
Some 22 million toys were recalled worldwide during this period. The committee said that it was satisfied that Rapex, the system by which products are recalled and by which information on dangerous products is exchanged within the, EU was working well. However, it noted with concern that the number of recalls had been growing by 50 per cent each year.
In response to a series of high-profile product recalls, the EU Commission is developing strengthened protections for the safety of toys, mainly to deal with hazards such as chemicals in toys, choking hazards and toys associated with foods.
The measures include rules on the use of carcinogenic and toxic substances in toys, improved safety warnings and improved provisions against choking or suffocation. The committee, while welcoming the thrust of the commission’s proposals, warned of a “dangerous ambiguity” in relation to the use of carcinogenic and toxic substances and called for all toys containing such materials to be fully and clearly labelled.
The European toys and games market is valued at €4.7 billion for manufacturers and €17.3 billion for retailers.
Virtually all toys sold in Ireland are imported via other member states, mostly the UK.
Throughout the EU, 90 per cent of toys are imported from China and other non-EU countries.
In the Republic, the National Consumer Agency is responsible for monitoring toy safety and is the Irish contact point for Rapex.
