COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT EU TOY SAFETY

REALITY: An EU address is no guarantee that someone can be held accountable.

Non-EU manufacturers are often required to designate a representative in the EU. But this system can be abused. Some representatives are fictitious, with addresses leading to empty buildings, forwarding services or even non-existent streets. Others use the names and addresses of legitimate EU businesses without their knowledge or consent.

When authorities try to track down these representatives, they may find that the company does not exist, has ceased trading or simply cannot be reached.

Meanwhile, the seller remains outside the reach of EU enforcement, leaving consumers exposed to unsafe products. And responsible EU businesses face unfair competition. They invest heavily in product safety and compliance – costs that can amount to 40% of a toy's retail price – while competing with sellers who avoid these obligations and the costs that come with them.

REALITY: Stronger enforcement helps, but it cannot solve the problem alone.

Billions of parcels enter the EU every year through online shopping. Customs and market surveillance authorities can only meaningfully inspect a fraction of them. More inspections and better enforcement tools are important, but they cannot keep up with the sheer volume of products.

And when unsafe products are identified, their sellers are frequently untraceable and authorised representatives fictitious, leaving authorities with no accountable party to act against. Without someone to hold responsible, stronger enforcement tools have little effect.

We need to do more than catch unsafe toys. We need to stop them from being sold in the first place.

This means making sure there is always someone in the EU responsible for a toy's safety. Where no such operator exists, the online platform facilitating the sale should take on that responsibility. The European Product Act is an opportunity to close this gap.

REALITY: The Digital Services Act (DSA) has introduced important obligations for online platforms, but it does not guarantee that the products sold through them are safe.

Platforms must take measures to tackle illegal products, but they are not generally required to verify the safety of every toy before it is listed. As a result, unsafe and non-compliant toys can still reach EU consumers through online marketplaces.

Crucially, the DSA does not close the accountability gap: when no responsible economic operator exists in the EU, there may still be no one authorities can hold accountable for the toy's safety, meaning the rules cannot be enforced.

REALITY: The Digital Services Act (DSA) has introduced important obligations for online platforms, but it has not stopped unsafe toys from being sold online.

The DSA requires platforms to take measures against illegal products, including checking seller information and removing illegal listings when notified. However, platforms are not generally required to verify the safety of every product before it is offered for sale.

In practice, seller information can be false or incomplete, making it difficult for authorities to trace those responsible. And while the DSA provides enforcement powers, investigations into major platforms can take years, during which unsafe products may continue to be sold.

There is also a fundamental difference between physical retailers and online marketplaces. A physical toy retailer is an economic operator with legal obligations under EU toy safety rules. It must carry out certain compliance checks before selling a toy, know who supplied it and cooperate with authorities when problems arise. Online marketplaces facilitating sales by third-party sellers do not automatically have these same responsibilities, even when the seller is outside the EU and no accountable economic operator can be found within the EU.

This is the fundamental gap the DSA does not close: when no responsible economic operator exists in the EU, market surveillance authorities may have no one they can hold accountable for the toy's safety.

Selling toys online should not mean avoiding the product safety responsibilities that apply to physical retailers.

That is why the European Product Act should ensure that every toy sold to EU consumers has an accountable economic operator in the EU. Where no such operator exists, the online platform facilitating the sale should assume that responsibility.

REALITY: The EU has some of the world's strictest toy safety rules, and the new Toy Safety Regulation strengthens them further. But it leaves an important gap: ensuring that someone in the EU can always be held accountable when those rules are broken.

The new Regulation was an opportunity to address this problem specifically for toys. However, it does not require online platforms to assume responsibility for product safety when toys are sold by non-EU sellers without an accountable economic operator in the EU.

As a result, market surveillance authorities may still have no one they can take action against when unsafe toys are sold online. Meanwhile, responsible manufacturers bear the costs of complying with increasingly strict safety requirements, while rogue traders can continue to evade those obligations.

The strongest toy safety rules in the world cannot protect children if there is no one to hold accountable when those rules are broken.

That is why the European Product Act must close this remaining gap by making online platforms responsible for product safety when no accountable economic operator exists in the EU.

REALITY: The EU's customs reform is an important step forward, but it cannot solve the problem alone.

The reform will give customs authorities better tools to identify and stop unsafe products entering the EU. However, with billions of parcels arriving every year, only a fraction can be physically inspected. And just because a toy has cleared customs does not mean it complies with EU safety rules.

Crucially, customs reform does not resolve the problem of accountability once products are on the EU market. When an unsafe toy is sold by a seller outside the EU and no responsible economic operator can be found within the EU, market surveillance authorities may still have no one they can hold accountable.

Better border controls are essential, but they cannot replace clear responsibility for product safety.

That is why we need the European Product Act to ensure that every toy sold to EU consumers has an accountable economic operator in the EU. Where no such operator exists, the online platform facilitating the sale should assume that responsibility.

REALITY: The Digital Product Passport (DPP) is a useful tool, but it is not a guarantee of safety.

The DPP can improve traceability and help authorities check whether toys comply with EU rules. But it is only as reliable as the information it contains. Dishonest sellers can provide false information or documents, and the actual product may not match what its passport says.

A digital check cannot replace physical inspections and safety testing. Nor does a passport guarantee that someone in the EU can be held accountable when a toy turns out to be unsafe.

The DPP also introduces new obligations for responsible manufacturers, and questions remain about its practical implementation, including how effectively it will work with customs systems.

A toy can have a Digital Product Passport and still be unsafe.

That is why the DPP must go hand in hand with clear responsibility for product safety. Where no accountable economic operator exists in the EU, the online platform facilitating the sale should assume that responsibility.

REALITY: There is no inherent conflict. The Digital Services Act (DSA) and EU product safety legislation are designed to work alongside each other.

The DSA sets out rules for how online platforms operate, but it does not prevent the EU from establishing additional product safety responsibilities. In fact, our proposal would complement the DSA by strengthening accountability and helping to prevent unsafe products from reaching consumers.

Our proposal is also carefully targeted. Platforms would only assume responsibility for a product's safety when no accountable economic operator exists in the EU. This would help ensure that EU product safety rules can be enforced, regardless of where the seller is based.

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights recognises the importance of consumer protection, environmental protection and the freedom to conduct a business. Our proposal seeks to support these objectives by protecting consumers and ensuring that responsible businesses do not face unfair competition from sellers who avoid EU safety obligations.

EU law should protect consumers and responsible businesses alike. Our proposal aims to make that protection effective online.

REALITY: The Product Liability Directive (PLD) is an important step forward, but it addresses a different problem.

The PLD helps consumers obtain compensation when a defective product causes harm. It does not ensure that unsafe toys are prevented from being sold in the first place. Market surveillance authorities cannot use the PLD to take action against a toy simply because it fails to comply with EU safety rules.

The revised PLD does introduce liability for online platforms, but only in certain circumstances. For example, where a platform presents a product in a way that makes consumers believe it is selling the product itself, it may be held liable if it cannot identify a responsible economic operator in the EU.

However, this does not generally make platforms responsible for the safety of products sold by third-party sellers, even when no accountable economic operator exists in the EU.

Compensating consumers after something goes wrong is not the same as preventing unsafe toys from reaching them.

That is why the Product Liability Directive must be complemented by clear product safety responsibilities under the European Product Act. Where no accountable economic operator exists in the EU, the online platform facilitating the sale should assume that responsibility.

REALITY: The Commission's recent enforcement actions against major online platforms are welcome and important progress. But they do not solve the underlying problem.

DSA investigations can take years. They focus on whether platforms comply with their obligations to assess and reduce risks, including those related to illegal products. They do not establish a general requirement for platforms to take responsibility for the safety of individual products when no accountable economic operator exists in the EU.

We need both: strong DSA enforcement and clear product safety responsibility from the moment a toy is offered for sale.

The European Product Act is an opportunity to close this gap. Where no responsible economic operator exists in the EU, the online platform facilitating the sale should assume that responsibility.

This would also ensure that new online marketplaces entering the European market are subject to the same rules from day one, without having to wait for lengthy investigations before accountability can be established.

Children's safety should not depend on years of investigations.

REALITY: Quite the opposite. EU businesses already invest in complying with product safety rules and can be held accountable when something goes wrong. Meanwhile, sellers outside the EU can avoid these obligations, putting responsible businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

Our proposal aims to level the playing field, not create unnecessary new burdens. It would ensure that every toy sold to EU consumers has someone in the EU who can be held accountable for its safety. Where no such operator exists, the online platform facilitating the sale should assume that responsibility.

The aim is not to impose more rules on responsible businesses, but to make sure everyone plays by the same rules. This matters particularly for smaller businesses, which often have fewer resources to compete with sellers who avoid the costs of compliance.