Germany to Maintain Existing Heavy Metals Limits in Toys

GENEVA - July 26, 2013 - PRLog -- Under the German Second Equipment and Product Safety Act Ordinance (Verordnung über die Sicherheit von Spielzeug – 2. GPSGV), the maximum daily bioavailability values for antimony, arsenic, barium, lead and mercury are identical to those under the Toy Safety Directive 88/378/EEC (1). These bioavailability values are:

a) 0.2 µg (antimony)
b) 0.1 µg (arsenic)
c) 25.0 µg (barium)
d) 0.7 µg (lead)
e) 0.5 µg (mercury)

The bioavailability values listed above a) to e) correlate to the migration values under the existing standard EN 71-3:1994 + A1:2000/AC: 2002. The migration values for these elements a) to e) are more stringent than, in particular, the migration values for toy material Category III under the new Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC (TSD).

German or EU Metal Limit Values?

In 2011, Germany sought permission from the EU Commission to retain its existing provisions provided in German law for, amongst other substances, antimony, arsenic, barium, lead and mercury released from toy material beyond 20 July 2013; the date of entry into force for chemicals under the new Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC (TSD) (2).

In April 2012, SGS informed you that the EU Commission partially agreed to Germany’s application to certain stricter chemical limits in toys (3).  Under Decision 2012/160/EC, measures for antimony, arsenic and mercury were not approved. The measures for barium and lead were approved until the date of entry into force of EU provisions setting new limits in toys or 21 July 2013, whichever comes first.  

In May 2013, the General Court of the EU published a press release (No. 59/13) stating that Germany may continue to apply its existing limit values for lead, barium, antimony, arsenic and mercury in toy materials until a final decision by the court (4).  This in effect annulled Decision 2012/160/EC dated March 2012 where the EU Commission partially agreed to Germany’s stricter chemical limits for heavy metals.  

A major impact from the press release (No. 59/13) is that toy material Category III (scraped-off toy materials) in Germany will have to comply with the existing EN 71-3 values for lead, barium, antimony, arsenic and mercury rather than those laid down in TSD until a final decision has been reached by the Court.

Highlights of the migration limits for the 2 sets of EN 71-3 standards are summarized in Table 1, and in Table 2 the categories I, II and III as defined in EN 71-3:2013 are explained. Both tables are featured within the latest SafeGuards bulletin (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/0...).

References:

- (1) Second Ordinance to the Equipment and Product Safety Act (http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gpsgv_2/BJNR135000011.html) (Ordinance on the safety of toys) (2 GPSGV)
- Directive 88/378/EEC (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:...)

- (2) Notification pursuant to Article 11, paragraph 4, 5 and 6 of the TFEU – Authorization to maintain or introduce national measures being more stringent than provisions of an EU harmonization measure (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2011:159:0023:0025:EN:PDF)

- (3) EU Commission partially agrees to Germany’s stricter chemical limits in toys - SafeGuards bulletin, April 2012 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/sgs-safeguards-05712-eu-commission-partially-agrees-to-germanys-stricter-chemical-limits-in-toys-a4-en-12.pdf)

- Decision 2012/160/EC (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:080:0019:0029:EN:PDF)

- (4) Press release (No. 59/13) from the General Court of the EU (http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2013-05/cp130059en.pdf)
- Order of the President of the Court (http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=137428&pageIndex=0&doclang=FR&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=3043832)

About SGS Toy Safety Services

Throughout a global network, SGS offers consultation and comprehensive testing services (http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Toys-and-Juvenile-Products/Toys/Testing.aspx) (physical/mechanical, chemical, flammability, electrical safety, etc) covering the full spectrum of international product safety and regulatory standards for a wide range of toys. The SGS laboratories are internationally recognized by major industry associations, accreditation bodies and authorities. With the largest global network of toy experts and testing facilities around the world (including 5 EU Notified Bodies and about 40 CPSC-Accepted Testing Laboratories), SGS is the partner to trust.

Please do not hesitate to contact an SGS expert for further information.

Contact details:

SGS Consumer Testing Services
HingWo Tsang
Senior Technical Services Manager
SGS Hong Kong Ltd.
5-8/F, 28/F, Metropole Square, 2 On Yiu Street, Siu Lek Yuen
Shatin, NT, Hong Kong, China

t: +852 2774 7420
Email: cts.media@sgs.com
Website: http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Toys-and-Juvenile-Products.aspx

SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 75 000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 1 500 offices and laboratories around the world.