(10 Apr. 2025) The EU Parliament and the EU Council agreed to extend the generic restriction for the most harmful chemicals in toys. The Toy Safety Regulation will now cover known and suspected endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are classified (EDCs categories 1 and 2), PFAS, and a group of ten bisphenols.
There is a transition period of 4.5 years for all provisions of the law.
The extension of the generic restriction is a key feature of the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability, agreed upon in 2022, but is opposed by industry for the upcoming REACH revision.
PFAS and the ten bisphenols will be banned without requiring classification. This is a win for the Parliament’s negotiators defending an ambitious first reading position of the previous term, which this Parliament reconfirmed. The council opposed this, but the European Commission helped to reach a compromise in the last few days.
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) identified 34 bisphenols as known or potential endocrine-disrupting or reprotoxic in 2021. The ten that are now added to the ban have not been classified yet.
The current toy safety rules already ban classified carcinogens, mutagens, and reprotoxics.
In addition, it was agreed that digital product passports will be introduced to toys and should help speed up customs checks and improve consumers’ access to safety information. To date, it is unclear what specific information the digital product passport should contain.
The Council and Parliament must formally approve the deal before it becomes law.
Further information
European Parliament, Toy safety: deal on new measures to protect children’s health (10 Apr. 2025)
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