Toys: EU Parliament insists on digital product passport and protection for AI

On Thursday, the EU Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), which is the lead committee, unanimously confirmed the position of the representatives of the people on an amendment to the EU regulations on the safety of children's toys. The existing directive with safety requirements for toys is to be converted into a regulation that applies directly in all member states. According to the plan, manufacturers must create a digital product passport for each toy and describe in detail how it meets the requirements. In this way, MEPs want to improve market surveillance and simplify customs checks at borders.

In addition to the EU Commission's original proposal, the IMCO also wants consumers to have easy access to safety information, for example via a QR code. The committee is pushing for manufacturers of digital toys to integrate standards for the integration of safety, IT security and data protection directly into the technology ("by design"). In order to avoid overlaps with existing EU law, the parliamentarians also stipulated that digital toys with artificial intelligence (AI) must comply with the new AI Regulation. They should therefore be classified as high-risk, which requires third-party assessment, risk mitigation, transparency and human oversight.

Search for compromise with government representatives begins

The IMCO established its position in principle back in February. In the meantime, the EU Parliament has reconstituted itself following the elections in June. However, this does not change the position of the MEPs. The committee has now not only taken up the previous line, but has also decided by 51 votes to enter into negotiations on the dossier in the so-called trilogue with representatives of the Council of Ministers and the EU Commission in the near future. A final compromise is expected to be reached in the coming months. Manufacturers of toys would then generally have to meet the increased safety requirements in order to be allowed to sell their products in the EU. This would apply regardless of whether they were manufactured in one of the member states or elsewhere.

The parliamentarians also want to establish a list of chemicals that must not be used in toys. They list 19 substances such as aluminum, barium and lead with specific limit values and a partial reduction of the previous maximum values. The list of substances subject to special labeling requirements is to include 71 elements.

(vbr)