Standards are used every day by businesses, manufacturers, public bodies, and other organizations as a tool for ensuring consumer products are safe. European standards are continuously improving everyday life with the ambition to be proactive and mitigate risks that can be reasonably foreseen with new and existing types of products.
Currently, 24 CEN and CENELEC Technical Committees (TCs) are carrying out standardization activities in consumer products. They mainly fall in the area of the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR 2023/988/EC), a new key instrument in the EU product safety legal framework, but they also concern a number of other pieces of European legislation (such as the Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC, and others).
A large proportion of the standards in this sector are thus drafted upon Standardization Requests by the European Commission, but standards are also developed in parallel with ISO, for example in footwear, sports equipment or textiles, leading to the publication of identical European and International Standards.
Given the variety of topics covered, such as child and toy safety, clothing and accessories, textiles and leather, sporting goods, furniture, furnishings and cleaning, the relevant technical bodies work independently of one another. However, they exchange information through liaison officers, and sometimes they also cooperate on topics of common interest.
Addressing environmental aspects in the Consumer sector involves promoting a circular economy to minimize waste and resource use.
SAFETY OF TOYS