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Legislation

The Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC

The directive lays down the safety criteria that toys must meet before they can be marketed in the EU. Toys must also comply with any other EU legislation applicable to them.

The Commission prepared a consolidated version of the Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC in Chinese (790 kB).

The expert group on toy safety

The expert group on toy safety is the setting for cooperation between EU countries, stakeholders and the Commission on toy safety. It assists in the consistent implementation of legislation across the EU and provides advice on the preparation of new legislative proposals and policy initiatives. In particular, the expert group discusses 'grey zone' classification problems and develops guidance material.

Administrative Cooperation Group for Market Surveillance

The administrative cooperation group for market surveillance (AdCo), discusses market surveillance issues with the national authorities responsible for market surveillance.

See the minutes of the ADCO toys meetings.

Report on the application of the Toy Safety Directive

Every 5 years, EU countries are required to send the Commission a report on the application of the directive. The report must contain

  • an evaluation of the situation concerning toy safety and the effectiveness of the directive
  • a presentation of the market surveillance activities performed by the EU country

The Commission then draws up a summary of the national reports.

See the Commission summary of the EU countries' reports of 2019 and its annexes.

See the Commission summary of the EU countries' reports of 2014 and its annexes.

Evaluations of Directive 2009/48/EC on the safety of toys

An external evaluation of the Toy Safety Directive was requested by the Commission, carried out in 2014 and 2015. It was to assess the directive's relevance in addressing current needs, its effectiveness and efficiency in meeting its objectives, its coherence with the EU legislative framework relevant for toys, and its EU added value.

See the evaluation report, its executive summary and the key findings.

An internal evaluation of the Toy Safety Directive was carried out in 2018 and finalised in 2020. It assesses the functioning of the Directive since its entry into force according to the five criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence and EU added value. See the Better Regulation Portal's page on the evaluation, the staff working document on the evaluation of the Toy Safety Directive and its executive summary.

Revision of Directive 2009/48/EC on the safety of toys

On 5 October 2021, the Commission published an inception impact assessment on the revision of the Toy Safety Directive. The deadline for comments was 2 November 2021.

On 2 March 2022, the Commission launched a public consultation on the revision of the Toy Safety Directive. The deadline for comments was 25 May 2022.

On 28 July 2023, the Commission adopted a proposal to revise the Toy Safety Directive and turn it into a regulation. The proposed regulation updates the current rules to protect children from potential risks in toys. 

Toys placed on the EU market are already among the safest ones in the world. The proposed rules will further improve this protection, in particular from harmful chemicals. They also aim to reduce the high number of unsafe toys that are still sold in the EU, especially online, and therefore increase the level playing field between toys manufactured in the EU and imported products. 

At the same time, the new rules will continue to ensure the free movement of toys within the single market. This proposal is currently being discussed with the European Parliament and Council.