The EU Directive - New Levels of Responsibility.

So who is now responsible for making sure that items for sale in the UK meet this new directive?

All toys sold in Europe must carry the CE mark to indicate that they confirm to the latest legislation requirements. So lets go through various parties obligations:

The Manufacturer - defined as a person or legal entity that manufactures a toy or designs a toy and has it manufactured on their behalf and markets it under their brand or trademark.

1. Ensure that toys comply with all essential safety requirements which include those laid down by other EU directives.
2. Perform safety assessments to identify hazards that a toy may present, and keep records of such hazard perception tests.
3. Produce and keep the appropriate technical documentation and chemical analysis for a period of 10 years.
4. Draw up an EC declaration of conformity and keep for 10 years.
5. Ensure production control measures are sufficient.
6. Test samples and keep test certification in a generally available format.

An Importer - defined as a person or legal entity established within the EU who places a toy on the EU market.

1. Places only compliant toys on the market.
2. Check that the manufacturer has used the appropriate production control.
3. Examine the manufacturers technical documentation and markings on the product/packaging and ensure that it meets all the guidelines.

A Distributor - defined as a person or legal entity in the supply chain other than the manufacturer or importer who makes a toy available on the market.

1. Verify CE-marking, EC declaration of conformity, relevent documentation (including testing), instructions are supplied in the relevant language(s), batch number and importers name and address are present as prescribed with the regulations.

Next time I will take a closer look on what some of these obligations actually mean.