MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
19.9.2007
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Cristiana Muscardini, Roberta Angelilli, Adriana Poli Bortone
on behalf of the UEN Group
on dangerous toys
B6‑0355/2007
European Parliament resolution on dangerous toys
The European Parliament,
– having regard to Directive 88/378/EEC[1] on the safety of toys,
– having regard to Directive 2001/95/EC[2] on general product safety,
– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas in the last few months a series of large-scale voluntary recall campaigns concerning unsafe toys has been announced in the EU,
B. whereas these recalls have raised awareness of the problem of unsafe products still reaching the EU market, and this requires urgent remedial action,
C. whereas 48% of detected unsafe products have their origin in China and 27% are of unidentified origin,
D. whereas 25% of all detected unsafe products are children’s toys,
1. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the CE marking is a guarantee of safety and quality and to take measures to prevent its abuse;
2. Calls on the Commission to increase the effectiveness of the RAPEX system to ensure detection of a maximum number of unsafe products from China and other third countries reaching the EU market;
3. Urges the Commission to take urgent action to tackle the problem of dangerous products of unidentified origin;
4. Urges the Commission to accelerate its review of the Toy Safety Directive, improving the efficiency and coherence of enforcement of this directive, and to submit its proposal to the European Parliament without further delay;
5. Calls on the Member States to ensure strict enforcement of product laws, particularly toy safety laws, and to step up efforts to improve market surveillance and national inspections;
6. Calls on the Member States to make full use of all possibilities legally available to them to ensure that noncompliant or unsafe toys are prevented from being placed on the market or are withdrawn or recalled from the market;
7. Calls on the Commission to reinforce cooperation with the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ);
8. Calls on the Commission and the Council to set up proper customs surveillance and enforcement mechanisms;
9. Calls on the Commission to provide technical assistance to the Chinese authorities in order to implement health and safety rules and improve customs cooperation;
10. Encourages the Commission to intervene firmly, together with the Member States, to defend consumers’ rights and expectations whenever there is evidence of deceptive behaviour and/or use of fraudulent or misleading origin markings by foreign producers and importers;
11. Calls on the Council to adopt rules to approve the regulation on the origin marking of products in order to provide consumers with proper information and awareness as to the country of origin;
12. Stresses the urgency and importance of reforming the customs code in order to allow stricter controls on products entering the European market, especially in order to guarantee compliance with European environmental and health standards;
13. Calls, with reference to toys in particular, for major controls on the ‘CE conformity marking’, which is affixed unilaterally by the manufacturer in order to ensure traceability of products, as well as strict controls on compliance with European legislation on the ‘chemical safety’ of products which are intended for children, especially if aged under three;
14 Stresses that this request is also made in order to protect European industry from unfair competition based on environmental dumping;
15. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.