Toys & Childcare | Monthly bulletin | March 2020

Regulatory news

France

Public Consultation for Restricted Substances in Single-use Nappies

On 15^th January 2020, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) informed that the public consultation in relation to chemical substances in single-use nappies had been opened in ECHA website.

ANSES is proposing to restrict chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), dioxins, furans, PCBs and formaldehyde found in disposable nappies, under the European chemicals regulation REACH. ANSES is in the process of preparing this proposal for submission in October 2020.

For more information, click here to visit the ANSES website.

US

New York Passes Toxic Chemicals in Children's Products Law

On 7^th February 2020, the New York governor signed Assembly Bill A06296A into law to regulate toxic chemicals in children's products, which will come into effect as of 1^st March 2020.

As issued in our newsflash last June, no later than twelve months after a dangerous chemical appears on a published list, manufacturers who offer a children's product for sale or distribution in the State of New York that contains a dangerous chemical or chemical of concern are required to report such chemical use at practical quantification limits to the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Children’s products containing the following dangerous chemicals will be prohibited from 1^st January 2023:

• Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate
• Benzene
• Formaldehyde(other than in textiles)
• Asbestos
• Organohalogen flame retardants

Please click here for more information.

Maine Revised Draft Rule to Designate PFOS and its Salts as Priority Chemicals

Recently the Maine Department published a revised draft rule to Chapter 890 to designate perfluorooctane sulfonic acid ("PFOS") and its salts as priority chemicals and certain children’s products which contain these regulated chemicals must be reported.

As a follow on from the former draft rule, as issued in our Newsflash last May, this proposal applies to manufacturers or distributors who offer for sale certain children’s products in the State of Maine containing intentionally added amounts of PFOS or its salts.

Comments can be submitted by 9^th March 2020.

Please click here for more information.

Review of the Safety Standards for Baby Cribs

On 31^st January 2020, the Consumer Product Safety Commission opened a public consultation about the safety standards of full-size baby cribs and non-full-size baby cribs.

The CPSC has to review mandatory standards within 10 years after their issuance to assess whether it is necessary to modify standards or maintain them without any changes.

The public consultation will be open until 3^rd March 2020.

For more information, click here to visit the Federal Register website.

India

Amendment in the import policy on toys

On 2^nd December 2019, the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry published notification nº 33/2015-2020 on the import policy on toys. It is an amendment to Policy Condition No. 2(iii) of Chapter 95 of ITC (HS), 2017–Schedule–1 (Import Policy). The main points are:

• Sample will be randomly picked from each consignment and will be sent to NABL-accredited Labs for testing and clearance may be given by Customs on the condition that the product cannot be sold in the market until successful testing of said sample. Further, if the sample drawn fails to meet required standards, the consignment will be sent back or destroyed at the cost of importer
• Import policy for Toys/Dolls and similar recreational goods under any chapter will be governed by BIS standards, as specified in Policy Conditions 2 of Chapter 95

This amendment is effective as of the day of its publication in the Indian Gazette (on 2^nd December 2019).

Taiwan

New Inspection Requirements for Cribs

On 31^st January 2020, The Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI) of Taiwan published an announcement in relation to new inspection requirements for household cribs and foldable crib products. Certification applications will be accepted from 1 March 2020 and the new requirements will take effect as of 1^st September 2020.

For more information, click here to visit the BSMI website (in Taiwanese).

New Zealand

Inclined infant sleep products ban

In December 2020, the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs of New Zealand published a notice which indicates that infant sleep products to be unsafe goods and prohibits the supply of the goods for 18 months from the date of publication of the notice in the New Zealand Gazette.

For further information, please click here the New Zealand Gazette Office website.

International

Regulatory proposals notified to WTO

Please see the below table summarising the most recent notifications made to the World Trade Organization (WTO) (non-exhaustive):

Product Recalls / Alerts

Below you will find a monthly summary table of product recalls and alerts in Europe (Source “RAPEX”) and in the US (Source “CPSC”).

Europe

RAPEX (European Commission Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products – Alerts reported by EU national authorities).

The following 54 alerts regarding Childcare articles, equipment and toys have been reported, from week 4 to week 7 of 2020.

US

From the 21^st January 2020 to the 15^th February of 2020, CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) published the following recalls: 6 recalls regarding Childcare and children’s products.