The Toys (Safety) Regulations 1989

UK Statutory Instrument 1989 No. 1275 — creates 1 criminal offence.

1offences created

0recorded in force

1revoked

Made: 25 July 1989
In force from: Not determined
Extent: Not stated
Subject: Food, consumer protection, trading standards, product safety and age-restricted sales
Made under: Consumer Protection Act 1987, European Communities Act 1972

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations (“the Regulations”) which (subject to a limited saving) revoke the Toys (Safety) Regulations 1974 and the Toys (Safety) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1975 implement Council Directive 88/378/EEC (“the Directive”) on the approximation of the laws of the member States concerning the safety of toys. The Directive is based on the Council resolution of 7th May 1985 on a new approach to technical harmonisation and standards (OJ No. C136, 4.6.85, p. 1). It lays down essential safety requirements which toys must satisfy. Harmonised standards prepared by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) and embodying in technical specifications essential safety requirements are transposed by national standards bodies into relevant national standards the reference numbers of which are published in each member State (in the United Kingdom by the Secretary of State). The Regulations provide that in the case of toys which bear the EC mark denoting conformity with the relevant national standards applicable to that toy there shall be a presumption that the toys satisfy the essential safety requirements in Annex II of the Directive (regulation 5 and Schedule 2). In other cases, where an EC type-examination certificate is in force in respect of a model of the toy and the toy bears the EC mark denoting conformity with the approved model the Regulations provide that there is a presumption that the toy satisfies the essential safety requirements (regulation 6). The Regulations apply to toys as defined in the Regulations and exclude toys specified in Schedule 3. The Regulations– a prohibit the supply of toys which do not satisfy the essential safety requirements (regulations 4 and 12); b prohibit the supply of toys which– i have been manufactured in accordance with relevant national standards and do not bear the EC mark by which the manufacturer or his authorised representative established in the Community confirms that the toy conforms with those standards; or ii have not been so manufactured and do not bear the EC mark by which the manufacturer or his authorised representative established in the Community confirms that the toy conforms with a model of the toy in respect of which an EC type-examination certificate is in force (regulations 9 and 12); c provide for bodies approved by the Secretary of State to carry out examinations and tests and issue EC type-examination certificates in respect of models of toys (regulation 7); d provide for the EC mark (a form is shown for purposes of illustration in Schedule 1) and other information to be put on toys to which the Regulations apply or on the packaging or, in the case of small toys, alternatively on an attached label, on an accompanying printed label or leaflet or, in the case of toys which are not individually packaged, on the box or other packaging containing a number of toys (regulation 9); e provide for the manufacturer of toys or if he is not established in the Community his authorised representative established in the United Kingdom or any other person established in the United Kingdom who supplies a toy on the first occasion on which it is supplied in the Community to keep available and give information in respect of toys supplied in the Community (regulation 10). Regulation 14 enables summary proceedings to be instituted for an offence under the Regulations involving an offence under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 within twelve months of the commission of the offence. Regulation 15 provides that in the case of a contravention of regulation 10(3) the person who contravenes the regulation is to be guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction with a maximum of three months' imprisonment or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale. In other cases the penalty for a contravention of the regulations involving an offence under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 is a maximum of six months' imprisonment or a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both, by virtue of section 12(5) of that Act.

Offences created by this instrument

Regulations to be treated as safety regulations within the meaning of the 1987 Act regulation 15(2) · Revoked · Strict liability

What Parliament said about it

Contributions, debates and written statements mentioning this instrument by name. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Toys Commons · Commons Chamber · 6 December 1989 · Mr. Forth
Local authority trading standards departments have a statutory duty to enforce the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and the toy safety regulations made thereunder. The Act provides the necessary powers for the discharge of this responsibility. The new Toys (Safety) Regulations 1989, which implement the EC directive on the safety of toys with effect from 1 January next year, will provide more comprehensive safety measures to ensure that only safe toys are placed on the market. They will also require enforcement authorities to notify my Department of enforcement action taken under those regulations.
Health And Safety Commons · Commons Chamber · 10 May 1994 · Mr. John Heppell (Nottingham, East)
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak. Hon. Members will remember that I was unhappy at Second Reading not because of what was on the face of the Bill—things such as the market charters and other important things. This issue does not affect people's lives—it decides whether they live or not. It is probably the most important issue that we will discuss tonight. When the Minister talks about burdens, he must recognise that there is not only a burden on people in terms of personal suffering as a result of accidents at work; there is also a burden on the state. It has been estimated that…

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

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