EC Releases Report on Safety in Toy Supply Chain
June 6, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
The European Commission (EC) recently released a report by independent experts on toy safety as a follow-up to the EC's product safety stocktaking review last autumn.
After a series of high-profile recalls, the stocktaking was undertaken to review the strengths and weaknesses of existing mechanisms to ensure product safety in Europe.
The June 5 report represents the results of a five-month analysis of product safety measures in the toy supply chain.
The report's main conclusion is to underline that product safety cannot be guaranteed by final product testing alone, but that it has to be a key part of the "quality culture" of an organization and needs to be embedded in the entire product supply chain.
The report found that Chinese authorities and manufacturers have made significant progress in tackling toy safety concerns.
Amongst other key conclusions, the report found it is the smaller players in the market, such as small European importers and traders and small Chinese manufacturers, that tend to be the weak link in the product safety chain. These players find it most difficult to fully understand and ensure compliance with the applicable legislation and standards.
A second area where weaknesses have been detected is in relation to the expertise available within member states' enforcement practices and the role of the testing laboratories. The report sets out a series of practical recommendations addressed to each of the stakeholders in the supply chain to strengthen safety controls.
"Despite the many efforts undertaken by the various actors in the toy supply chain, the 2007 recalls and RAPEX notifications show that there are still too many unsafe toys appearing on the EU market," said Meglena Kuneva, EC commissioner for consumers.
"I am delighted to be able to draw on the specialist expertise that has gone into producing this report. I intend to present the key recommendations to the Chinese authorities during my visit this month. There are recommendations addressed to all the actors involved in the supply chain. These will be analyzed in detail by the commission and discussed with each of the relevant stakeholder group in the coming months to assess how to move forwards," Kuneva added.
Main gaps
The research found that many of the smaller economic operators (whether on the European or Chinese side) find it more difficult to deal with safety issues, especially due to a lack of in-depth knowledge of the applicable rules, a lower number of dedicated personnel and weaker quality-management systems and supplier controls.
As a result, for many of the smaller operators, the Chinese government's export controls, when undertaken, are the only real independent test of the product's safety before being placed on the European Union (EU) market.
In fact, with the strengthening of controls in China and the importance of the importer in determining safety requirements, the difficulties - especially for smaller actors - in properly addressing product safety seem to have become one of the main gaps in the toy supply chain.
Furthermore, given the importance of the U.S. market, Chinese producers tend to focus on U.S. regulations and standards, making it more difficult to fully understand the European legislative framework.
Finally, regarding market surveillance in Europe, the research found that some enforcement authorities were perceived to lack expertise in toy safety, to the detriment of a level playing field for businesses.
Key conclusions and recommendations
The main conclusion of the report is that product safety cannot be guaranteed by final product testing alone, but has to be embedded in the entire product development and production process. Adopting and maintaining a strong quality and safety culture is a critical element in ensuring continuous attention to product safety issues.
Although the project focused on the toy sector, several of the findings will be pertinent to other product groups as well and will have to be addressed with the relevant sectors directly.
The report presents over 50 recommendations to strengthen the current system for ensuring toy safety, targeting all key actors in the supply chain.
To facilitate the process of taking these recommendations forward at the European level, the report also recommends establishing a multi-stakeholder forum, building on the work of the expert group, to discuss the practical implementation of the various proposals.
For further information, see the EU's press release about frequently asked questions on product safety and the EU web site on Children's Toys.
Source: European Commission.