Toys and other Chinese products make up the majority of 4,127 instances of the 4,127 dangerous non-food products that were warned by EU safety gate market trackers last year. This is the number of alerts since the rapid alert system was introduced in 2003, twice the number seen just two years ago.
Cosmetics remained the most frequently reported product class, more than a third of the total. 97% of them, which were impressive, contained butylphenylmethyl products, a synthetic perfume known by the product name Lilial, named after the floral scent.
The European Chemical Agency has described the substance as a potential endocrine disruptor, which can damage fertility and cause an allergic reaction in the skin. Its use has been banned in the EU since March 2022.
Toys account for 15% of alerts, and the report comes days after EU lawmakers agree to a text on new toy safety regulations that prohibit the use of toy PFA, endocrine disruption and bisphenols.
Under the Incoming Call Law, all toys have digital product passports to prevent unsafe toys that cannot enter the EU online and offline. Other categories flagged in alert systems include appliances (10% of the amount generated), automobiles (9%), and chemicals (6%).
European consumer rights group Beuc suggests that the issue is not so triggered by the lack of legislation as a lack of enforcement and the increased tendency to buy products via websites and smartphone apps.
“Market oversight authorities not only need more financial, technical and human resources, but also require stronger legal enforcement to the online markets to ensure consumers are protected from unsafe products,” said Beuc Director Agustín Reyna.
As the authorities cannot control all products entering the EU market, consumer organizations warned that official notifications to the alert system probably represent only the “top of the iceberg” and that it is impossible to know the number of products or units linked to a particular notification.
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In addition to new incoming toy safety standards, the EU adopted general product safety regulations in December. The committee is working with national authorities to prepare for the first product safety “sweep” on the website to identify violations of the regulations.
40% of all notifications regarding imports from China (a whopping 61% if no cosmetics are included (it appears to come primarily from Italy) – EU executives have been working with manufacturing superpowers since 2006 to ensure that Chinese companies are aware of the standards for EU products.
In the Joint Action Plan signed in 2023, trading partners agreed to respond to safety gate alerts within 21 days and held regular workshops to discuss mutual enforcement challenges.
“The products we use every day cannot harm our health or the environment,” said Michael McGrath, the EU commissioner in charge of consumer protection at a press conference that wielded plastic dolls found to contain toxic phthalates.
