On August 19, 2011, the European Commission published a resolution in the Official Journal of the European Union concerning Germany's restrictions on certain types of chemicals used in toys.
On January 20, 2011, Germany requested that it retain its restrictions on five elements—lead, arsenic, mercury, barium, and antimony—released from toys and toy materials, as well as on nitrosamines and nitrosoamines. The aforementioned European Commission decision addresses this request. According to EU Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC, the content of nitrosamines and nitrosoamines in toys was restricted from July 20, 2013, but the restrictions proposed by Germany were more stringent.
Since July 20, 2013, Germany has been required to harmonize its domestic legislation with this directive, but it has requested EU approval to maintain stricter restrictions. If the EU accepts Germany's request, its restrictions will be more stringent than those of other EU member states, potentially hindering normal trade within the EU internal market and increasing costs for traders. The European Commission must assess whether the trade barriers caused by Germany's request are worthwhile, for example, whether Germany can improve protections for children's health.
Currently, German consumer product regulations restrict nitrosamines and nitrosoamines, stipulating that natural or synthetic rubber toys intended for use by children under 36 months or that may be placed in their mouths must release nitrosamines and nitrosoamines in extremely small amounts, undetectable by laboratories. The regulations stipulate that migration limits for nitrosamines and nitrosoamines must be below 0.01 mg/kg and 0.1 mg/kg, respectively.
The limits for nitrosamines and nitrosoamines under EU Directive 2009/48/EC are more lenient. It stipulates that from July 20, 2013, the migration limits for nitrosamines and nitrosoamines in toys intended for use by children under 36 months of age or that may be put in their mouths shall not be equal to or higher than 0.05 mg/kg and 1 mg/kg, respectively.
Regarding other substances, Germany's Second Equipment and Product Safety Act restricts the use of lead, arsenic, mercury, barium, and antimony. However, Directive 2009/48/EC contains different migration limits for three types of toy materials: dry, brittle, powdery, or flexible toy materials; liquid or sticky toy materials; and scratchable toy materials. According to this directive, from July 20, 2013, new migration limits were imposed on the relevant elements in these three types of toy materials, not exceeding 13.5, 3.4, and 160 mg/kg (lead); 3.8, 0.9, and 47 mg/kg (arsenic); 7.5, 1.9, and 94 mg/kg (mercury); 4,500, 1,125, and 56,000 mg/kg (barium); and 45, 11.3, and 560 mg/kg (antimony). Germany's restrictions are more stringent than those of Directive 2009/48/EC.
In a resolution published on August 19, the European Commission stated that it would consider Germany's request. Although the Commission was due to make a decision by September 5, 2011, the complexity of the scientific data made a final ruling difficult before that deadline. Therefore, the Commission postponed the deadline for its final decision by six months to March 5, 2012.
Source: UNCTAD (September 9, 2011)
