Switzerland Revises Toys Ordinance

In Switzerland, toys are regulated under Ordinance of the Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) on the Safety of Toys (Toys Ordinance, RS 817.023.11; French, German 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 (Annex XVII of REACH) for the management of chemicals.

In February 2022, Switzerland published Official Collection 2022 125 (RO 2022 125, French, German and Italian versions) to revise its Toys Ordinance. The current amendment lists the latest set of toy safety standards for presumption of conformity with the nation’s Toys Ordinance and further aligns its chemical requirements with those in the TSD. This revision contains, inter alia, several important changes:

Amends the requirements for allergenic fragrances for consistency with Directives (EU) 2020/2088 and (EU) 2020/2089 (SafeGuards 188/20 and 105/21):

oAdds 3, 7 dimethyl 2 octen 1 ol (6, 7 dihydrogeraniol) (CAS 40607 48 5) to Annex 2 Part 3 Point 9a entry 10 under Chemical Properties this list of allergenic fragrances is prohibited in toys, but their presence is allowed provided they are technically unavoidable under good manufacturing practice (GMP) and each fragrance is no more than 100 mg/kg (the ‘Prohibited List’)

oDeletes methyl heptane carbonate (CAS 111-12-6) from Annex 2 Part 3 Point 9b Entry 10 under Chemical Properties this list of allergenic fragrances requires their names to be listed on the toy, an affixed label, the packaging or in an accompanying leaflet if their concentrations are greater than 100 mg/kg (the ‘Labeling List’)

Restricts aniline in certain toys (see Section 1 below)

Lists the latest set of toy safety standards for demonstrating compliance with the nation’s Toys Ordinance (see Section 2 below)

Federal Department of Home Affairs on the Safety of Toys (Toys Ordinance, RS 817.023.11)

Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office, Amendment of February 14, 2022, RO 2022 125, February 23, 2022

Section 1 – Substance: Aniline

Scope:

Toys intended for children under 36 months

Other toys intended to be placed in the mouth

Requirement:

≤ 30 mg/kg after reductive cleavage in textile and leather materials

≤ 30 mg/kg after reductive cleavage in finger paints

≤ 10 mg/kg as free aniline in finger paints

Section 2 – Standard

SN EN 71-1+A1:2018 ‘Mechanical and physical’

SN EN 71-2:2021 ‘Flammability’

SN EN 71-3+A1:2021 ‘Migration of certain elements’

SN EN 71-4:2021 ‘Experimental sets for chemistry and related activities’

SN EN 71-5:2016 ‘Chemical toys (sets) other than experimental sets’

SN EN 71-7+A3:2020 ‘Finger paints’

SN EN 71-8:2018 ‘Activity toys for domestic use’

SN EN 71-12:2017 ‘N-nitrosamines and N-nitrosatable substances’

SN EN 71-13:2021 ‘Olfactory board games, cosmetic kits and gustative game’

SN EN 71-14:2019 ‘Trampolines for domestic use’

SN EN IEC 62115:2020 with amendment A11:2020 ‘Electric toy safety’

According to RO 2022 125, this latest amendment became effective on March 15, 2022. Toys that do not comply with allergenic fragrances under Annex 2 in the latest amendment may be manufactured and imported under the previous law until March 14, 2023. These may be sold to consumers until stocks are exhausted.