Switzerland Aligns Toy Safety with EU

In Switzerland, toys are regulated under Ordinance of the DFI on the Safety of Toys (Ordinance on Toys, RS 817.023.11; German, French and Italian versions). That piece of legislation contains elements from, among other things, Directive 2009/48/EC on toy safety (Toy Safety Directive, TSD) and Annex XVII of Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) for the management of chemicals.

On November 5, 2019, Switzerland published Official Collection 2019 3367 (German, French and Italian versions) to amend its Ordinance on Toys (Toys Ordinance). The latest revision further aligns the nation’s technical requirements to those in TSD and entry 51 to Annex XVII of REACH. This amendment contains,inter alia, several important changes:

1. Clarifying that the migration requirements of ≤ 0.05 mg/kg for nitrosamines and ≤ 1.0 mg/kg for nitrosatable substances apply to toys for children under 36 months and in other toys intended to be placed in the mouth (Annex 2 to Toys Ordinance)
2. Strengthening the migration limit for chromium (VI) from 0.2 mg/kg to 0.053 mg/kg in scraped-off (category III) toy materials (Annex 2 to Toys Ordinance)
3. Expanding the requirement of ≤ 0.1% for the sum of three phthalates (BBP, DBP and DEHP) to four phthalates (BBP, DBP, DEHP and DIBP) (Annex 2 to Toys Ordinance) – this is similar to those under entry 51 to Annex XVII of REACH (SafeGuardS 2/19)
4. Revising the list of technical standards for toy safety (Annex 4 to Toys Ordinance, see Table 1)

According to the amendment:

• Toys not meeting the requirements in points 1 to 3 above may be manufactured, imported, labeled and sold to consumers until May 31, 2020
• Toys not meeting the other provisions in the amendment may be manufactured, imported and labeled under the old law until November 30, 2020 and can remain on the market until stocks are exhausted

The provisions in the amendment will become effective on December 1, 2019.

Highlights of the latest list of standards are summarized in Table 1. It is interesting to note that the EU references EN 71-3:2019 ‘Migration of certain elements’ for presumption of conformity with the TSD (SafeGuardS 149/19) whereas Switzerland requires SN EN 71-3:2013+A3:2018 for compliance.

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