German Government to Keep Applying Existing Limit Values for 5 Heavy Metals in Toys

HONG KONG - Nov. 4, 2013 - PRLog -- This Decision is provisional and is valid until the General Court or the Court of Justice has rendered its final judgment.

In July 2013, SGS informed you that Germany may continue to apply its existing limits to certain heavy metals in toys.

On 9 October 2013, Decision 2013/492/EU was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) to authorize Germany to maintain the migration limit values for antimony, arsenic, barium, lead and mercury beyond 20 July 2013, the date of entry into force for chemicals under the new Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC (TSD) . The migration limits for these 5 heavy metals correspond to limit values established under the former Toy Safety Directive 88/378/EEC and are identical to the value limits under the former standard EN 71 Part 3:1994 + A1:2000/AC:20021.

According to the Decision, the Commission lodged an appeal against the Order of the President of the General Court (C-426/13P (R)) on 26 July, 2013, but the appeal did not have a suspensory effect. As a result, the Commission complies with the Order and authorizes that the migration limits of the 5 heavy metals in question be maintained. The Commission continues to pursue legal action against the measures. This Decision is provisional and is only valid until a final decision has been reached in the case T-198/12R by the General Court or in the case T-198/12R (Case C-426/13 P(R)) in the Court of Justice.

Highlights of the migration limits for the 2 sets of EN 71-3 standards are summarized in Table 1. The definition and examples of toy material categories are summarized in Table 2 within the latest SafeGuards bulletin (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/0...).

References:

(1) SafeGuards No. 119/13 July 2013 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/0...)

(2) Commission Decision 2013/492/EC (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:...)

(3) Directive 2009/48/EC (http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:170:0001:0037:en:PDF)

About SGS Services for Toys and Juvenile Products

Throughout a global network of laboratories, SGS is able to provide a range of services, including analytical testing and consultancy for organohalogen or organophosphorus flame retardants and other restricted substances and chemicals (http://www.sgs.com/en/Consumer-Goods-Retail/Toys-and-Juvenile-Products/Juvenile-Products-and-Childcare-Articles/Testing/Chemical-Testing.aspx)  in consumer products for compliance with the US and worldwide requirements.

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

Contact details:

SGS Consumer Testing Services
HingWo Tsang
Information and Innovation Manager
SGS Hong Kong Limited
1/F On Wui Centre
25 Lok Yip Road
Fanling, N.T., 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.