Soutenues par la plupart des forces politiques, les institutions européennes ont avancé une proposition visant à interdire les produits chimiques toxiques dans les jouets vendus sur les marchés européens.
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00:00Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada
00:30...on stricter safety requirements from manufacturers and sellers, including those operating on online platforms.
00:37The ban will hit chemicals that can cause cancer, alter DNA or harm reproductive organs.
00:43Dangerous products are nearly everywhere in our daily lives.
00:48Most of them are found in cosmetics, 36% according to the European Commission.
00:53But strikingly, toys are the second largest product category found to be the most hazardous.
01:00And the hazards were most often related to chemicals.
01:04In the list of dangerous products, toys are followed by electrical appliances and cars.
01:09One in five products flagged as dangerous and withdrawn from the EU market is a toy.
01:14That's why, before introducing a toy to the market, manufacturers will now be required to carry out safety assessments covering all potential risks.
01:25The toys now need a digital product passport in the form of a QR code showing they meet safety standards.
01:31That, of course, begs the question, have people been aware of the inherent danger in toys?
01:37I think the rules are already pretty strict, so I think they should maybe be more strict on TEMU and the Chinese webshops.
01:46But I think that it should be like food or other products, even in the mode, we try to reduce the provenance or even the composition, so I think that it should be the same for the children.
02:00And even more, if it's for the children.
02:02In any case, the parents always comprise, that the toys are not allowed to carry out anything, so I think that they should be safe.
02:12Let's bring in Gerardo Fortuna now who has covered this story for Euronews.
02:40Gerardo, good to see you.
02:42What is the back story of these rules right now?
02:46These are the kind of EU rules that need a refresher from time to time.
02:51The Toy Safety Directive actually dates back to 2009, and since then science has moved on quite a bit, particularly in understanding unsafe chemicals.
03:02For instance, all the rules didn't cover things like endocrine disruptors, which are affecting hormones, or also PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals, and now they're both banned.
03:15This ban on toxic chemicals, was there any resistance?
03:19Not really on the substance, because in the end we're talking about the safety of products that are intended to children, even newborn, so there's enough consensus about tightening the rules.
03:31The real issue was more on the enforcement, consumer groups made it very clear, it's not how strict the rules will be, but how you can enforce them.
03:42It's very difficult for market surveillance authorities to check on every toy entering the EU market.
03:54So, I think that the challenge lies more on the enforcement.
03:58That's a good point.
03:59Many of the hazardous toys come from China and are sold on Chinese marketplaces, platforms like Temu.
04:08How are these toys going to be monitored?
04:11This is indeed the key part of the new rules.
04:15All these toys will need a digital product passport, which essentially consists in a digital record that travels together with the document.
04:26So, this would make it easier for customs or market inspectors to check on the toys.
04:32And at the same time, the rules make sure that this big platform complies with the EU broader laws, such as the Digital Service Act, the DSA, so that even big platforms will comply with the same rules as everyone else.
04:48But even the best safety legislation cannot prevent some from selling illicit toys, which is why Europol has issued guidelines on how to recognize fake toys.
05:01If the price is too good to be true, if mandatory labels are missing, if the toy is sold in a clear plastic bag instead of regular packaging, or if the brand name or instructions contain spelling mistakes, then don't buy it.
05:17Joining me now is Marion Waldsmann, Vice Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee in the European Parliament and the lead negotiator on the toy safety file.
05:28Welcome to the programme.
05:29So, zunächst einmal, gab es in dieser Sache eine breite politische Unterstützung und Zustimmung?
05:35Ja, es gab eine breite politische Zustimmung zu der Gesetzgebung, sowohl zu dem Kompromissvorschlag, auch zu der Tatsache, dass man jetzt eine Verordnung verabschiedet hat.
05:49Und es war breiter Konsens, dass die bisherige Regelung, die aus dem Jahr 2009 stammt, absolut überarbeitungsbedürftig ist.
05:57Und auch die Veränderung von der Richtlinie zur Verordnung war allgemein konsensfähig.
06:02Was steht hinter der Einführung eines digitalen Produktpasses?
06:07Der digitale Produktpass wird es zukünftig viel, viel leichter machen, nachzuvollziehen, ob Spielzeug auch gesetzeskonform hergestellt wurde und sowohl für die Verbraucher einen Mehrwert bieten, die Informationen über Bestandteile, Inhaltsstoffe und anderes erhalten.
06:26Aber auch die Kontrollbehörden, die Marktüberwachungsbehörden natürlich einfacher auch nachvollziehen können, ob der Hersteller sich an die Qualitätsvorgaben gehalten hat.
06:37Sie haben die Hersteller angesprochen. Wie viel Zeit bekommen die Unternehmen, um ihre Produktion anzupassen?
06:43Uns war es sehr, sehr wichtig, dass diese Verordnung dann auch ordentlich umsetzbar ist.
06:49Und dazu braucht man eben eine Übergangszeit von 54 Monaten, das heißt viereinhalb Jahre, um alle technischen Anpassungsprozesse vornehmen zu können.
06:59Ich wollte es nochmal ansprechen. Wie sehen jetzt die nächsten gesetzlichen Schritte aus?
07:05Also der nächste Schritt ist, dass noch einige technische Nachbesserungen, Formulierungen gemacht werden müssen.
07:11Dann wird der Binnenmarktausschuss nochmal sein Einverständnis geben mit einer Abstimmung.
07:16Dann geht es im Oktober in das Plenum und da kommt es zur finalen Abstimmung und dann eben die Veröffentlichung im Amtsblatt der Europäischen Union.
07:26Und ab dann tritt es in Kraft und dann entfaltet es Wirkungs ab 2029.
07:33With the revised rules, the European Union is giving children the safest toys possible.
07:38Kids will be better protected against invisible dangers such as harmful chemicals,
07:44including endocrine disruptors and PFAS, also known as forever chemicals.
07:50And their parents will have access to all the information they need about every single toy.