EU assembly panel backs tougher toy safety rules

BRUSSELS, Nov 6 (Reuters) - A European Parliament panel voted on Thursday to toughen European toy safety standards in response to last year's recalls of millions of unsafe products.

The EU assembly's Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee backed measures such as tougher limits on the levels of chemicals used in toys and stricter age recommendations on toys with a risk of choking.

Over 20 million Chinese-made toys were recalled last year due to excessive lead paint and other unsafe parts, prompting the European Commission to overhaul the rules for EU toymakers and importers of toys into the 27-country bloc.

The committee also backed tougher rules on packaging toys as gifts with food items, but voted down a proposal by its chair, British Labour MEP Arlene McCarthy, that could have led to a ban on chocolate eggs with toys inside.

The new rules approved by the committee include:

- a more detailed description of the mechanical and physical properties with which toys need to comply

- specific rules on use of hazardous chemical substances in toys covering CMR -- chemicals that are carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction

- limiting the use of allergenic fragrances in toys

- stricter safety warnings and manuals, covering also websites selling toys

- requiring that toys included with food products be packaged separately, to prevent the toy ending up in the child's mouth and becoming a choking hazard

- requiring that these toy packages carry a clear warning ('Toy inside. Adult supervision recommended').

SIGNAL TO CONSUMERS

The rules still need to be ratified by the full parliament and 27 EU governments next month before coming into force next year. But lawmakers hope the new standards will send a reassuring signal to consumers ahead of the lucrative Christmas shopping period.

"We will now bring these rules to the table when we meet our U.S. and Chinese counterparts later this month so we can reach a global consensus which will make it clearer for producers and reduce their burden," EU Consumer Affairs Commissioner Meglena Kuneva told Reuters.

Italy's Ferrero Group, which had feared that its popular "Kinder Surprise" chocolate eggs containing a small toy could be banned, said the panel vote "strikes the right balance between enhancing the protection of child consumers and not over-regulating".