CELEX: 51983PC0323(03)
Language: en
Date: 1983-06-15
Title: Proposal for a Council Directive on common technical safety standards concerning the flammability of toys

No C 203/14                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                29. 7. 83
             E. The following points in Section 6, Marking and instructions for use, are amended as
                 follows:
                 6.1.: deleted.
                 6.2.: add the following paragraph: 'The provisions laid down in point 1 of Annex III to
                 Council Directive .../.. ./EEC of... (') also apply.'
                 6.4.: add the following paragraph: "The provisions laid down in point 2 of Annex III to
                 Council Directive .../.. ./EEC of ... (') also apply.'
                 6.5: deleted.
                 6.6: add the following to the first paragraph: "The provisions on functional toys laid down in
                 point 3 of Annex III to Council Directive .../.. ./EEC of... (') also apply.'
             (') The framework Directive (see XI/566/82).
                                                              Ill
             Proposal for a Council Directive on common technical safety standards concerning the
                                                     flammability of toys
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                        Whereas such standards should cover the main
COMMUNITIES,                                                       aspects of toy safety; whereas one of these aspects is
                                                                   that of hazards which can arise from the
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                       flammability of these products; whereas the general
European Economic Community, and in particular                     safety objectives relating to these hazards have been
Article 100 thereof,                                               set out in Annex II to the framework Directive;
Having regard         to    the    proposal     from     the
Commission,                                                        Whereas there already exists in this field a
                                                                   non-binding European standard concerning toys
Having regard to the opinion of the European                       most likely to present a fire hazard; whereas the
Parliament,                                                        most satisfactory form of harmonization consists in
                                                                   referring to that standard;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,
                                                                   Whereas if such reference is made it should be
Whereas the national laws on toy safety differ from                confined in particular to the technical specifications
one Member State to another; whereas it is                         and test methods laid down in the abovementioned
necessary to approximate these laws in order to                    standard without taking over its general and legal
avoid barriers to trade in these products and to                   provisions which, being the responsibility of the
ensure the safety of consumers, especially children;               legislature, are already laid down in the framework
                                                                   Directive;
Whereas Council Directive . . . / . . ./EEC of... on
the approximation of the laws of the Member States
relating to toy safety, hereinafter called 'the                    Whereas a small number of amendments to
framework Directive', sets out the basic provisions                technical points in the standard should be envisaged
of substantive law and procedure to be adopted by                  in order to bring them into line with the principles
the Member States in this field;                                   and safety objectives set out in the said Directive;
Whereas the abovementioned Directive provides in
Article 4(1) that specific Directives shall determine              Whereas the standard referred to will become
the common technical safety standards containing                   mandatory in the Community; whereas therefore its
the technical specifications for construction and                  text should be published, with the amendments to it
composition to which toys have to conform in the                   which are set out in this Directive, in the Official
Community and the relevant testing methods;                        Journal of the European Communities;
 ---pagebreak--- 29. 7. 83                                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                          No C 203/15
Whereas according to Article 11 of the framework                                                                   Article 4
Directive the amendments necessary for adapting
the common technical standards laid down in the                             As         provided                 for      in  Article    11   of
specific Directives to technical progress and to                            D i r e c t i v e . . . / . . . / E E C , the amendments to the
experience gained in regard to the safety and health                        common technical safety standards referred to in the
of the consumer are to be adopted in accordance                             Annex shall be adopted in accordance with the
with the procedure laid down in Article 13 of that                          procedure laid down in Article 13 of that Directive.
Directive,
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIVE:
                                                                                                                   Article 5
                          Article 1                                         1. The Member States shall adopt and publish the
                                                                            provisions necessary to comply with this Directive
This Directive shall apply to toys within the                               and shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
meaning of Article 1 of Directive . . . / . . ./EEC.
                                                                            They shall apply these provisions from [1 January
                                                                            1985] at the latest.
                          Article 2
                                                                            2. As soon as this Directive has been notified,
The common technical safety standards relating to
                                                                            Member States shall also ensure that the
the flammability of toys, within the meaning of
Article 4 (1) of D i r e c t i v e . . . / . . . / E E C , shall be the     Commission is informed, in sufficient time for it to
standard referred to in the Annex with the                                  submit its comments, of any draft laws, regulations
associated amendments.                                                      or administrative provisions which they intend to
                                                                            adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
                          Article 3
The common technical safety standards referred to                                                                  Article 6
in the Annex shall be published in the Official
Journal of the European Communities.                                        This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
                                                                      ANNEX
             COMMON TECHNICAL SAFETY STANDARDS RELATING TO THE FLAMMABILITY OF
                                                                       TOYS
             The common technical safety standards relating to the flammability of toys to which these
             products have to conform are those laid down in European Standard EN 71, Part 2, edition 2, of
             June 1982, established by CEN, rue Brederode 2, boite 5, 1000 Brussels, subject to the following
             amendments:
             A. The Foreword and sections 1. Scope and 2. Field of application shall be replaced by the
                following text:
                1. Scope
                This standard establishes the categories of flammable materials which are prohibited in the
                manufacture of toys (3.1) and the requirements concerning the flammability of certain toys
                when they are submitted to a small source of ignition (3.2 to 3.5), as well as the relevant test
                methods (4 to 4.5).
             B. 3.1 General
                — The following qualification shall be added to the first indent of the first paragraph: '...;
                    this prohibition shall not be applicable to table-tennis balls';
 ---pagebreak---  No C 203/16                         Official Journal of the European Communities                                  29. 7. 83
              — under (b) in the second paragraph, insert a new indent after the first: '— are defined as
                  extremely flammable by the EEC Directives relating to dangerous substances ( 4 )';
                  footnote (4) placed at the end of the second indent shall become footnote (5);
              — the text at the bottom of the page under (3), (4), (5) shall read: 'Article 2 (2) (b), (c) and (d)
                  of Council Directive 79/831/EEC of 18 September 1979 (OJ No L 259, 15. 10. 1979, pp. 11
                  and 12).'
              4.5. Pre-treatment of toys likely to be washed
              — The present paragraph shall be preceded by the sentence '(a) Toys designed such that a
                  child can enter them'.
              — The following paragraph shall be added: '(b) Disguise costumes; soft toys with a pile or
                  textile surface. Such toys shall be washed, rinsed and spin-dried twice in a domestic
                  washing machine, in a manner appropriate to the type of fabric of which they are made, at
                  a temperature of 40° C with a moderate washing cycle and a light load or at a temperature
                  of 50° C with a normal washing cycle and a heavier load (')•'
              — The following footnote (') shall appear at the bottom of the page: 'See, for example,
                  Standard BS 5651, 1978, Ch. 6.'
                      Proposal for a Council Regulation on outward processing relief arrangements*
                               (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 24 June 1983)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                        Whereas this exemption, if it concerns certain taxes
COMMUNITIES,                                                       other than customs duties and agricultural levies,
                                                                   may not be compatible with the common
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                       agricultural policy or with specific arrangements
European Economic Community, and in particular                     applicable to certain goods resulting from the
Article 113 thereof,                                               processing of agricultural products, or with the
                                                                   objectives sought by the adoption of taxes of a
Having regard          to   the    proposal      from    the       particular type notably monetary compensatory
Commission,                                                        amounts, additional amounts and compensatory
Having regard to the opinion of the European                       taxes for compensating the price level used by third
                                                                   countries; whereas it is important to provide that the
Parliament,
                                                                   total or partial exemption applicable under the
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                   framework of the outward processing relief
Social Committee,                                                  arrangements may not affect these taxes; whereas
                                                                   the Commission should be instructed to draw up a
Whereas, in the context of the international division              list of those taxes which may be of a very different
of labour, many Community undertakings have                        nature;
recourse to outward processing relief arrangements,
that is the exportation of goods with a view to their               Whereas the use of outward processing relief
subsequent re-importation after processing, working                arrangements must be refused by the competent
or repair; whereas recourse to these arrangements is               authorities where the essential interests of
justified for economic or technical reasons;                       Community producers are likely to be seriously
                                                                    affected;
Whereas it is necessary to set up a system to provide
partial or total exemption from import duties                       Whereas by virtue of Article 42 of the 1979 Act of
applicable to compensating products in order to                     Accession, the provisions of this Regulation
avoid, at the time of their re-importation, the                     regarding trade with third countries are to apply
taxation of goods exported from the Community for                   under the same conditions to trade within the
processing;                                                         Community in so far as customs duties may arise