Council Directive 88/378/EEC of 3 May 1988 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning the safety of toys
Modified by
Council Directive 93/68/EECof 22 July 1993amending Directives 87/404/EEC (simple pressure vessels), 88/378/EEC (safety of toys), 89/106/EEC (construction products), 89/336/EEC (electromagnetic compatibility), 89/392/EEC (machinery), 89/686/EEC (personal protective equipment), 90/384/EEC (non-automatic weighing instruments), 90/385/EEC (active implantable medicinal devices), 90/396/EEC (appliances burning gaseous fuels), 91/263/EEC (telecommunications terminal equipment), 92/42/EEC (new hot-water boilers fired with liquid or gaseous fuels) and 73/23/EEC (electrical equipment designed for use within certain voltage limits), 393L0068, August 30, 1993
Directive 2008/112/EC of the European Parliament and of the Councilof 16 December 2008amending Council Directives 76/768/EEC, 88/378/EEC, 1999/13/EC and Directives 2000/53/EC, 2002/96/EC and 2004/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council in order to adapt them to Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures(Text with EEA relevance), 308L0112, December 23, 2008
Corrected by
Corrigendum to Council Directive 88/378/EEC of 3 May 1988 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning the safety of toys, 388L0378R(01), October 14, 1988
Council Directiveof 3 May 1988on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning the safety of toys(88/378/EEC)THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100A thereof,Having regard to the proposal from the CommissionOJ No C 282, 8.11.1986, p. 4.,In cooperation with the European ParliamentOJ No C 246, 14.9.1987, p. 91 and Decision of 9 March 1988 (not yet published in the Official Journal).,Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social CommitteeOJ No C 232, 31.8.1987, p. 22.,Whereas the laws, regulations and administrative provisions in force in the various Member States relating to the safety characteristics of toys differ in scope and content; whereas such disparities are liable to create barriers to trade and unequal conditions of competition within the internal market without necessarily affording consumers in the common market, especially children, effective protection against the hazards arising from the products in question;Whereas these obstacles to the attainment of an internal market in which only sufficiently safe products would be sold should be removed; whereas, for this purpose, the marketing and free movement of toys should be made subject to uniform rules based on the objectives regarding protection of consumer health and safety as set out in the Council resolution of 23 June 1986 concerning the future orientation of the policy of the European Economic Community for the protection and promotion of consumer interestsOJ No C 167, 5.7.1986, p. 1.;Whereas, to facilitate proof of conformity with the essential requirements, it is necessary to have harmonized standards at European level which concern, in particular, the design and composition of toys so that products complying with them may be assumed to conform to the essential requirements; whereas these standards harmonized at European level are drawn up by private bodies and must remain non-mandatory texts; whereas for that purpose the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) are recognized as the competent bodies for the adoption of harmonized standards in accordance with the general guidelines for cooperation between the Commission and those two bodies signed on 13 November 1984; whereas, for the purposes of this Directive, a harmonized standard is a technical specification (European standard or harmonization document) adopted by one or both of those bodies upon a remit from the Commission in accordance with the provisions of Council Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulationsOJ No L 109, 26.4.1983, p. 8., as last amended by the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and on the basis of the general guidelines;Whereas, in accordance with the Council resolution of 7 May 1985 on a new approach to technical harmonization and standardsOJ No C 136, 4.6.1985, p. 1., the harmonization to be achieved should consist in establishing the essential safety requirements to be satisfied by all toys if they are to be placed on the market;Whereas, in view of the size and mobility of the toy market and the diversity of the products concerned, the scope of this Directive should be determined on the basis of a sufficiently broad definition of "toys"; whereas, nevertheless, it should be made clear that some products are not to be regarded as toys for the purposes of this Directive either because they are not in fact intended for children or because they call for supervision or special conditions of use;Whereas toys placed on the market should not jeopardize the safety and/or health either of users or of third parties; whereas the standard of safety of toys should be determined in relation to the criterion of the use of the product as intended, but allowance should also be made for any foreseeable use, bearing in mind the normal behaviour of children who do not generally show the same degree of care as the average adult user;Whereas the standard of safety of the toy must be considered when it is marketed, bearing in mind the need to ensure that this standard is maintained throughout the foreseeable and normal period of use of the toy;Whereas compliance with the essential requirements is likely to guarantee consumer health and safety; whereas all toys placed on the market must comply with these requirements and, if they do, no obstacle must be put in the way of their free movement;Whereas toys may be presumed to comply with these essential requirements where they are in conformity with the harmonized standards, reference numbers of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Communities;Whereas toys that conform to a model approved by an approved body may also be regarded as complying with the essential requirements; whereas such conformity must be certified by the affixing of a European mark;Whereas certification procedures must be established to define the way in which national approved bodies have to approve models of toys not in conformity with standards and issue type-examination certificates for them and for toys in conformity with standards, a model of which is submitted to them for approval;Whereas adequate information for the Member States, the Commission and all the approved bodies must be provided for at the various stages of the certification and inspection procedures;Whereas Member States must appoint bodies, called "approved bodies", for the purposes of applying the system introduced for toys; whereas adequate information on these bodies must be provided and they must all comply with minimum criteria for their approval;Whereas cases might arise where a toy does not satisfy the essential safety requirements; whereas, in such cases, the Member State which ascertains this fact must take all appropriate measures to withdraw the products from the market or to prohibit their being placed on the market; whereas a reason must be given for this decision and, where the reason is a shortcoming in the harmonized standards, these, or a part thereof, must be withdrawn from the list published by the Commission;Whereas the Commission is to ensure that the harmonized European standards in all the areas covered by the essential requirements listed in Annex II are drawn up in sufficient time to enable Member States to adopt and publish the necessary provisions by 1 July 1989; whereas the national provisions adopted on the basis of this Directive should consequently become effective on 1 January 1990;Whereas provision must be made for suitable action to be taken against anyone wrongfully affixing a mark of conformity;Whereas checks on the safety of toys already on the market must be carried out by the competent authorities of the Member States;Whereas, for some categories of toys that are particularly dangerous or intended for very young children, warnings or details of precautions to be taken must also be given;Whereas the Commission must receive regular information on activities carried out under this Directive by the approved bodies;Whereas those to whom any decision taken under this Directive is addressed must know the reason for that decision and the remedies open to them;Whereas the opinion of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the evaluation of the toxicity and ecotoxicity of chemical compounds has been taken into account with respect to the health-based limits of bioavailability of metallic compounds in toys to children,HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: