60-day moratorium on toys for sake of children's safety

The TT Bureau of Standards (TTBS) has issued a 60-day moratorium on toys to allow importers and retailers time to comply with safety standards to protect children.

In a media release on Friday, the TTBS said the moratorium which started on July 7 will run until September 5 with enforcement of the national safety standard on toys to begin on September 6.

The announcement was made on Wednesday by TTBS’ manager of implementation division Gerard Maxwell during a virtual national stakeholder meeting with manufacturers, importers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers, regulators and consumer protection agencies.

The objective of that meeting, the TTBS said, was to disseminate information related to the requirements of the national compulsory standard: TTCS 3: 2020 – Safety of Toys – Compulsory Requirements, as well as provide details on its enforcement regime.

The TTBS said the safety of toys standard was declared compulsory by the Ministry of Trade and Industry and came into effect on the March 31.

“The standard establishes compulsory requirements for the following elements and chemicals used in the manufacture of children’s toys including antimony, arsenic, barium, boron, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury, phthalates and selenium contained within new toys and also toys categorised as seconds, reconditioned and refurbished.

“The standard also indicates the labelling requirements for all toys and prohibits the importation, donation and sale of used toys in TT.”

Enforcement of the standard was intended to protect children against danger to their health or safety, empower consumers and reduce the cross-border trade of used children’s toys, the TTBS added.

The requirements apply to all intended food and oral contact toys, cosmetics toys and writing instruments categorised as toys irrespective of any age grading or recommended age labelling; all toys intended for or suitable for children up to seventy-two months of age; accessible coatings, irrespective of any age grading or recommended age labelling; and accessible liquids, pastes, gels, irrespective of any age, grading or recommended age labelling. The standard only applies to packaging materials that are intended to be kept and which form part of the toy or have intended play value.

Executive director Derek Luk Pat said, “TTBS is taking a proactive step to protect our children from the potential risks of hazardous compounds that are commonly found in toys."

“As good regulatory practice dictates, TTBS consulted stakeholders during the review process to solicit comments from the industry," he said. "TTBS will continue to maintain its collaborative approach to ensure the products that are available on the local market are safe for use by the citizens and conform to minimum requirements outlined in compulsory standards.”

The TTBS said the toy inspection process will include label assessment to the requirements of TTCS:3 2020, lab analysis of the toy sample which follows the international standard, ISO/IEC 17025:2017, and general requirements for the competence of testing, and calibration laboratories from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation.

It said once the test results meet the requirements of the national standard, the toys will be released for distribution while non-conforming toys will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

TTBS added that certificates from other third-party testing and product certification sources may be accepted from accredited bodies.