Health Canada Releases Toy Safety Proposals

As a first step in Health Canadas toy safety legislation modernization effort, proposed toy safety requirements for mechanical and electrical hazards were released in a consultation document. There will be a 60-day period in which comments by stakeholders will be considered. After that, the proposal will be amended as appropriate before publication in the Canada Gazette Part I for a formal consultation. Comments must be submitted no later than January 12, 2010. Instructions below.

Background
The main goal of Canada's toy safety legislation modernization project is to protect children from unsafe toys. This will be accomplished through a series of additions and revisions to requirements. Because of the diversity and complexity of the hazards, the current proposal, Part 1, will first address mechanical and electrical concerns. The Health Canada proposal covers these five subject areas: Toys with magnets or magnetic components Sound-emitting toys Toys with certain sizes and shapes Plastic film or plastic bags used in toys or toy packaging Toy labelling for age use and for specific choking hazard warnings The proposal is based on the results of a comparison between Canadian legislation with US legislation and toy safety industry standards in an attempt to reconcile them. Legislation and standards reviewed included: ISO 8124-1, Safety of toys - Part 1: Safety aspects related to mechanical and physical properties ASTM F963, Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety United States Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act United States Federal Hazardous Substances Act United States Consumer Product Safety Act EN71-1, Safety of toys - Part 1: Mechanical and physical properties CSA C22.2 No. 149-1972 (Reaffirmed 2009) Electrically Operated Toys CSA C22.2 No. 122-M1989 (Reaffirmed 2009) Hand-Held Electrically Heated Tools IEC 62115, edition 1.1, 2004-11 Electrical Toys - Safety

Additional Goal
The modernization effort has an additional goal to reduce the product testing burden faced by manufacturers complying with toy safety requirements. See the consultation document for more details.

Instructions for Submitting Comments

Please provide comments no later than January 12, 2010. Mail: Toy Safety Legislation Modernization, Consumer Product Safety Directorate, Health Canada. 123 Slater Street, 4th floor, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0K9. Or email: M&E@hc-sc.gc.ca

Full Text of Consultation Document

http://hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/legislation/consultation/2009toy-jouet/consult-eng.php

Contact Information If you have any comments and/or questions, please contact your customer service representative or email cps.info@us.bureauveritas.com
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