Activities of Vlad-Marius BOTOŞ related to 2021/2040(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Implementation of the Toy Safety Directive (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the implementation of Directive 2009/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the safety of toys (Toy Safety Directive)
Amendments (51)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
A a. Whereas the EU has the strictest toy safety legislation in the world that is widely regarded as a global benchmark.
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
A b. Whereas play is recognised as every child’s right by the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which all EU member states are signatories; playing contributes to children’s development, health and wellbeing and is an essential part of growing up; studies show toys have can enrich play and keep children playing for longer;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
A c. Whereas the EU’s strict toy safety framework is designed to ensure children enjoy the safest play experience possible;
Amendment 6 #
B a. Whereas the effectiveness of the EU’s TSD is too often undermined by the actions of rogue traders and by the online sale of non-compliant products.
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. Whereas toy safety rules are stricter than rules for other consumer products that children are exposed to such as clothes, bedlinen, stationery, video game controllers and mobile phones.
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas, despite the lack of comprehensive data on its full impact, the number of companies operating in the market since the full application of the TSD increased by 10 % from 2013 to 2017, while the turnover of the EU toy industry has constantly increased since its entry into force; whereas 99 % of companies in the sector are SMEs; and the majority of these companies are micro-enterprises; whereas the Joint Research Centre has estimated that the TSD has led to a 13% increase of costs for materials for small & medium sized EU manufacturers.
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas the toy safety directive requires that toys, including the chemicals they contain, are safe, specific requirements and standards can be adapted in case of scientific and technological developments that show the constant emergence of previously unknown risks and challenges related to toys that call for quick adaptations;
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. Whereas improved sustainability is important, the safety of toys should always take precedence; whereas requirements to improve sustainability should not compromise safety.
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s evaluation report on the TSD, aiming at assessing its functioning since its entry into force; regrets the lack of harmonization in the elaboration of the reports and also in data gathering; stresses the need for transparency and urges the Member State and the Commission to publish the periodic reports from all the MS;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Acknowledges the added value of the TSD in improving the safety of children and ensuring an equal level of protection across the single market, compared to the previous directive, and its role in providing legal certainty and a level playing field for the businesses from European Union; regrets that a big part of the third country manufacturers that are selling their products in theSingle Market, especially through the on-line market, do not comply with the European legislation and many toys sold in the EU are still posing significantly, sometimes deadly, threats to children;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recognises the key role of standards in allowing for the efficient and agile application of the directive by manufacturers, as well as the role of notified bodies in ensuring compliance when standards are not available or are not applied; regrets the scarcity of the notified bodies insome regions or Member States;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes, however, that inconsistencies that call for a revision of the TSD remain; further efforts are needed to ensure the strict safety requirements that are applied by all economic operators and that children enjoy a similar level of protection in relation to other products designed for their use; invites the Commission to continue its evaluation process before a possible revision of the TSD to have targeted updates on the legislation, if needed.
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Highlights the need for toys that are placed on the EU market to comply with the TSD, as well as the relevant EU legislation on chemicals, in particular the REACH Regulation , the Cosmetics Regulation, the Food Contact Material Regulation, the Batteries Directive, the CLP Regulation, POPs Regulation and the RoHS Directive;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that spreading out requirements across several pieces of legislation, and providing for different limit values, can be burdensome and can, in some cases, necessitate duplicate the measuring of substances, as in the case of migration and content limit values; calls on the Commission, therefore, to consider consolidating all applicable limits for toys in onehighlights such approach is needed because the diversity of toys and the need for consistency with legislation for other similar products; calls on the Commission to facilitate the navigation of these different pieces of legislation in order to streamline conformity assessment; for both the market surveillance authorities and economic operators by establishing a data base that clarifies what is required in which circumstances.
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses that spreading out requirements across several pieces of legislation, and providing for different limit values, can be burdensome and can in some cases necessitate duplicate the measuring of substances, as in the case of migration and content limit value can be burdensome and can even lead to contradicting provisions; calls on the Commission, therefore, to consider consolidating all applicable limits for toys in one piece of legislation in order to streamline conformity assessment;o establish a database that clarifies what is required in which circumstances for both market surveillance, economic operators and consumers.
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers that the derogation from the prohibition of chemicals that are carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction (CMRs) set out in the TSD allows for the presence of those chemicals in concentrations that are too high to ensure the protection of childrentoys; calls on the Commission urgently to substantially reduce the generic limits for derogated CMRs in the TSD; insists that, in line with according to the recommendations made by the scientifical body taking into account the real threat to the health of the children; reminds that as part of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, the possibility to derogate from European Commission intends to further restrict CMRs under REACH; calls on the Commission to also target toys, when further ruleestrictions on the presence of CMRs in parts of the toy that are inaccessible to the child should be deletedconsumer goods are proposed under horizontal legislation such as REACH and RoHS;
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Underlines that lower limit values for chemicals such as nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances in specific toys intended for children below three year old or intended to be placed in the mouth set out at national level compared to those established in the TSD create inconsistencies, even when justified by the Commission; notes, however, that all EU children should enjoy the same high level of protection; acknowledges that this limit value cannot be amended by an implementing act but would require a legislative procedurethat the Commission mandated the European Standardisation Committee CEN in March 2012 to revise the limits for nitrosamines and the lower limits were included in the standard EN 71-12:2016; calls on the Commission, theo refoere, to adapt the limit value to the strictest value in force at national level in a revision of the TSDnce this standard, including the lower limit values for nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances, in the EU Official Journal as soon aspossible;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission to propose a hazard identification procedure for endocrine disruptors, based on the definition of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other scientific bodies, and to apply it in a future revision of the TSD to ensure that endocrine disruptors are banned in toys as soon as they are identified if they are representing a threat to the health of the child or if they are in the parts of the toys that are prone to substance transfer, as well as to consider introducing horizontal legislation with that aim, as repeatedly requested by Parliament and by the Council;
Amendment 65 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Is concerned that the stricter provisions for chemicals in toys intended for children aged under 36 months do not take into account the fact that some older children remain vulnerable to dangerous substances; notes that this distinction can result ine need of regulations that will prevent manufacturers from circumventing the provisions by indicating that the toy is intended for children above 36 months even when it is clearly not the case; stresses that several stakeholders and Member States have indicated that this distinction is clearly inadequate and asked for it to be eliminacorrectly implemented; calls on the Commission, therefore, to do so in its revision of the TSDmake an extensive inquiry and in full accordance with the latest scientific evidence of the neuro-motor and psychologic developments of the children according to their age to evaluate if an elimination is needed and to proceed accordingly;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11 a. Appreciates that the TSD sets stricter provisions for chemicals in toys intended for children aged under 36 months and toys intended to be placed in the mouth to deal with the risk of chemicals that migrate through oral exposure which is particularly present until the age of 24 months old; notes that these limit values have high safety margins and are based on the low body weight of young children, but insists that notwithstanding the high safety margin that already exist, if a chemical is seen as hazardous for children, it should be limited or restricted in all children's goods according to the recommendations of the specialists; calls on the Commission to use REACH to deal with additional restrictions for toys for older children.
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that the TSD contains an obligation for Member States to perform market surveillance undertaking due account of the precautionary principle, test toys on the market and verify manufacturers’ documentation with a view to withdrawing unsafe toys and taking action against those responsible for placing them on the market; is concerned that the effectiveness of market surveillance under the TSD is limited, putting the health and safety of children at risk and undermining the level playing field for economic operators that comply with the legislation, to the benefit of rogue traders, who do not;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, which aims to improve market surveillance by strengthening controls by national authorities to ensure that products entering the single market, including toys, are safe and comply with the rules, and; calls on the Member States to implement it fully and to equip customs and market surveillance authorities with sufficient human, financial and technical resources to increase the number and effectiveness of controls;
Amendment 81 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, which aims to improve market surveillance by strengthening and harmonising controls by national authorities to ensure that products entering the single market, including toys, are safe and comply with the rules, and calls on the Member States to implement it fully also by making available the necessary resources (budget and staff);
Amendment 92 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Calls on the Commission to explore possibilities for using new technologies such as e-labelling, blockchain and artificial intelligence to facilitate the work of market surveillance authorities by providing easily accessible and structured information on products and their traceability;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Underlines the importance of well- trained market surveillance officers, including customs officials. Calls on the Commission to finance and coordinate EU-wide training on applying the TSD
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Member States to step up coordination of their market surveillance activities; and to fully digitalize their procedures; calls on the European Commission to organise and finance joint market surveillance actions on toys.
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. Calls on Member States to make sure market surveillance activities are robustly financed;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16 b. Is concerned that counterfeit toys can put children at risk and have a negative impact on toy companies that apply all safety requirements; believes it is essential that Know Your Business Customer Requirements are adopted for all types of online intermediaries; welcomes specific operations from law enforcement authorities targeting counterfeit toys, such as Operation Ludus from Europol (2020).
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Is concerned by the new vulnerabilities and risks posed by connected toys in terms of children safety, security, privacy and mental health; calls on the Commission to explore different options for action, such as extending the scope of the TSD to include provisions on information security or reinforcing the relevantin particular the adoption of a horizontal legislation, such as the Radio E on cyber-security requiprement Directive and the Cybersecurity Act, as well as the GDPR, while keeping Parliament informed of its chos for connected products and associated services;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 a (new)
Paragraph 17 a (new)
17 a. Highlights that the significant divergences in controls of products from third countries and in customs procedures and sanctions policies at the EU’s points of entry into the customs union often result not only in distortions and the entrance of counterfeit toys, but also in a considerable health and child safety risks in the single market;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17 b (new)
Paragraph 17 b (new)
17 b. Insists that the Commission ensures that custom controls throughout the EU follow the same standards, by means of harmonised and standardised controls, in coordination with Member States and in full compliance with the principle of subsidiarity; urges the Commission, furthermore, to increase collaboration between the relevant competent authorities so as to guarantee harmonised and uniform controls at all points of entry into the Union and thus ensure the traceability of products and a high level of safety of toys;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Welcomes the guidance of the Commission on Article 4 of Regulation 2019/1020, which clarifies the tasks of economic operators, in particular with regard to products sold online and placed on the EU market from non-EU countries; stresses that compliance with EU rules by all economic operators is key to ensuring the safety of children and providing a level playing field for companies, and calls on market surveillance and customs authorities to perform robust enforcement actions to stop rogue traders from exploiting the EU market;establish an ongoing list of the countries, regions of origin or companies with the highest number of non-compliant toys and prioritize the check according to this list, to perform robust enforcement actions to stop rogue traders from exploiting the EU market; urges the Member States to cooperate and put at each others disposal the list with the countries and companies with the highest rate of non-compliancy.
Amendment 129 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Highlights concerns that rogue traders can exploit loopholes that may result in unsafe toys being placed on the market, particularly when a seller is based outside the EU and there is usually no EU-based manufacturer, importer or distributor who is liable for the safety of a toy;
Amendment 135 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Stresses that online marketplaces should take additional steps to ensure the safety and compliance of toys sold on their platforms; insists in the strongest terms, in this sense, that it is fundamental to ensure full consistency between different instruments such as the Digital Services Act and the future legislative act revising the GPSD when it comes to the responsibility of online marketplaces and the liability of traders, under the principle ‘what is illegal offline is illegal online’;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Highlights the added value of the ‘know your business customer’ principle to increase compliance of toys sold online and traceability of toys sold online; regrets that the product safety pledge has shown limited effects so far; calls, therefore, for increased responsibilities for online marketplaces to detect and remove unsafe and non- compliant toys from their platforms and prevent their reappearanceraders on online market places ; acknowledge the results of the product safety pledge while highlighting its voluntary character and a limited participation of marketoperators ; calls, therefore, for enhanced cooperation of online marketplaces with market surveillance authorities on product safety issues, especially in removing an illegal product upon an order received by relevant authorities and in eliminating or mitigating the risk presented by a product offered online.;
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Highlights the need to step up cooperation with non-EU countries; to fight more effectively against unsafe and non-compliant toys while ensuring a levelplaying field for European companies; calls on the Commission to publish information on its monitoring activities;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Considers it essential to provide for a broader scope for amendments inInvites the Commission to assess the scope of the future revision, including mechanical and physical requirements if and where necessary in particular for children under 36 months, limit values for nitrosamines, labelling provisions for allergenic fragrances and CMRs;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls on the Commission to clarify the definition of ‘grey zone’ products in the future revision of the TSD; stresses the need for an opened and constructive dialog with all the stakeholders to redefine toys so to eliminate confusion and grey-zones as much as possible.
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls on the Commission to clarify the definition of ‘grey zone’ products in the future revision of the TSD, as well as in the corresponding guidelines;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 a (new)
Paragraph 26 a (new)
26 a. Considers that clear and up-to date guidance documents are essential for harmonized implementation of the TSD. Guidance helps both market surveillance authorities and economic operators to deal with ‘grey zone’ cases, such as when there is doubt about the correct age classification; calls on the Commission to keep Guidance documents updated, with priority given to revisions of guidance document No. 11 on age classification and of the TSD technical documentation guidance.
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26 b (new)
Paragraph 26 b (new)
26 b. Highlights the important role of the toys in the development and formation of the children, the support from the pedagogical point of view in performing new tasks and improvement of learning skills from a very young age; calls on the Commission to revise the toy directive considering improving the safety of toy and in the same time reducing the burden and the administrative and legal costs of the manufacturers in order to ensure a clear path to safe and affordable toys for all children in the European Union.
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
27. Calls on the Commission to introduce mandatory labelling for toys, providing the consumer at the time of purchase with clear, easily understandable and comparable information on a toy’s estimated lifetime, the extent to which it is reparable and the availability of spare parts, including, where relevant, the availability of the necessary software, and setting out options for repair;Delete
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Considers that warnings and safety information are important for consumers. Additional labelling requirements should be kept to a minimum to avoid attention is diverted from this; calls on the Commission to assess the possibility to indicate conformity information not intended for the final consumer electronically;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 b (new)
Paragraph 27 b (new)
27 b. Urges the Commission to foster the use of innovative and digital solutions to make information available to consumers and minimise packaging materials while ensuring that safety information is clearly identifiable.
Amendment 165 #
27 c. Highlights that for the CE- marking, there is discrepancy between the TSD and other harmonized rules that might also apply to some toys, such as the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive and the Radio Equipment Directive which require the CE marking to be on the product. This is especially problematic if numerous conformity marks for different jurisdictions around the world have to be present. Calls on the Commission to specify in the Blue Guide on EU Product Rules, that a product needs to comply with the CE-marking requirements of one of the applicable legislations if there are conflicting requirements.
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 d (new)
Paragraph 27 d (new)
27 d. Is concerned by the proliferation of national legislation impacting labelling and information requirements to be displayed on packaging; considers that consumers and the value chain need information to drive more sustainable behavior but measures should be proportionate and not restrictive in a manner contrary to Article 34of the TFEU; believes a single EU-approach should be considered for example through the upcoming revision of the EU Packaging & Packaging WasteDirective
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
28. Highlights that the lack of consistent EU-wide statistics on toy-related accidentaccidents caused by toys makes it impossible to quantitatively assess the level of protection granted by the TSD; believes that a lack of coordination and funding at EU level is a root cause of the absence of consistent data and calls on the Commission to address this in a future revision through the establishment of a pan-European accident and injury database; for all the products sold in the Union, with a special section for toys, public, user friendly and accessible for consultation for public authorities, consumers and manufacturer; the introduction of the data in the data base shall be made in real time and shall be mandatory for all the injuries and accidents from all the Member States
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29 a (new)
Paragraph 29 a (new)
29 a. Calls on the Commission to introduce in the revision of the TSD a data base and templates regarding the data needed for the evaluation of the Regulation that shall beused by all the Member States, all the marketing surveillance authorities and all the notified bodies allowing to gather the same information at the European level and ensuring a harmonized data collection.
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Calls on the Commission to use the opportunity provided by the TSD revision to introduce indicators to monitor its implementation and effectiveness; urges the Commission to establish a harmonized report comprising the same type of data and the same sections to be submitted regularly by all the Member States to ensure a high quality, non-biased and fact based evaluation of the Regulation.
Amendment 176 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Calls on the Commission to use the opportunity provided by the TSD revision to introducedevelop indicators to monitor itsthe correct implementation and overall effectiveness of the TSD by Member States;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30 a (new)
Paragraph 30 a (new)
30 a. The Commission shell elaborate the general report at the Union level based on the reports gathered from all the Member States. The final report and the reports from the Member State shall be public and easily accessible by all the interested parties.