This Friday, in its annual report, the DGCCRF announced that 17% of the toys controlled by its services in 2022 were non-compliant and dangerous, which led to the destruction of 120,000 of them. A useful warning, a few days before Christmas.
Unsecured access to batteries, intensity of LEDs, flammability of disguises and risks of suffocation with the stuffing of a stuffed toy… For the office of the Minister Delegate in charge of Trade, Olivia Grégoire, it is “not negotiable to play with toy safety. The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) therefore carries out targeted controls every year.
41% non-compliance on online marketplaces
In 2022, 2,200 professionals (including 140 websites and marketplaces) were checked and a third were “abnormal”, a spokesperson for the DGCCRF told the press this Friday. This particularly high level is due to targeting upstream of controls through various reports. The control levels for 2023 are essentially the same, she added.
Its agents “collected 670 toys” after an initial visual examination “which gave initial indications of non-compliance or dangerousness”. The toys are then sent to the laboratory for a more detailed analysis and stocks can be seized while awaiting the result. These samples take place throughout the chain, from the manufacturer, for a check before being placed on the market, to distribution, to catch up with any anomalies.
The overall non-compliance rate (17%) rises to 41% for toys taken from online marketplaces. In the event of non-compliance, the toy may be subject to a withdrawal procedure, but the manufacturer can also bring it up to standard before being placed on the market.
The DGCCRF is particularly attentive to small detachable elements on battery-operated games or even key rings, but it pushes its analysis to the point of measuring the risks of modeling clay, finger paint or “the length of the cords” disguises to avoid the risk of strangulation.