this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2025
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[...]

The sweeping new toy safety rules will also mean that all toys sold in the EU will be slapped with a 'digital product passport' in the form of a QR code displaying its compliance with EU safety laws.

Children’s squeaky plastic toys, trucks, blocks and dolls contain chemicals which are harmful to health, such as PFAS, also known as ‘forever chemicals’, as well as other hazardous substances like bisphenols.

[...]

Recently, the Commission said they would take a "holistic" approach to regulating large e-commerce platforms like Shein, and Norway is mulling a crackdown on Temu, including a possible ban, over the sale of toxic toys.

A recent investigation by Toy Industries Europe into unbranded toys sold online found that 80% of toys examined by the group failed to meet EU safety standards, including products purchased from Amazon, Wish and AliExpress.

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[–] gabelstapler@feddit.org 18 points 1 week ago (2 children)

A large number of substance is already banned from being used in toys. However the Chinese simply don't care. The chance of the product being analyzed at import is so miniscule, it's just a risk they're willing to take.

[–] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Then the law should go after the intermediaries (i.e. Amazon, Wish, AliExpress) who are making available those products in Europe.

(And you can be sure even the likes of AliExpress will comply: when the EU enacted a "Everything imported by consumers now has VAT" rule with a "Foreign sellers can register in an EU system were they charge the country-appropriate VAT at the time of sale and send the VAT themselves to that EU country" they immediatly adopted that system to avoid having everything they sold stopped at the border and held until VAT was paid)

[–] gabelstapler@feddit.org 3 points 1 week ago

Today the importers are legally responsible. however the chance to get caught is miniscule. Reading EU's rapex reports, often it is even unknown where the product was sold.

Even the responsible importers can be caught off guard if the samples are good quality, but after some time the supplier switches to toxic quality.