Since 2011, toys sold in the EU have had to meet Directive 2009/48/EC. That directive is on its way out. On 12 December 2025 the EU published Regulation (EU) 2025/2509 on the safety of toys, which repeals it. Because it is a regulation, the same text applies directly in every member state, without national versions.
Most of the new rules apply from 1 August 2030 (Article 59). That sounds far away, but for a seller who imports toys from Asia it is a few production cycles. Toys you buy in 2029 may still be in your stock in 2030, and the biggest change, the digital product passport, also has to work at the border: for toys under the commodity codes in Annex VII, customs checks the passport registration before releasing them.
This article explains what changes, who has to do what, and which steps make sense now.
- When the new rules apply
- The digital product passport replaces the declaration of conformity
- The passport check at customs
- Stricter rules on chemicals
- Warnings, marketplaces and fulfilment
- What importers and sellers from outside the EU have to do
- What you can do now
- Checklist
When the new rules apply
The regulation entered into force on 1 January 2026, but it only applies from 1 August 2030. Until then, Directive 2009/48/EC remains the law you have to meet. Only Articles 28 to 44 (notified bodies) and 49 to 55 (delegated acts, committee procedure, confidentiality and penalties) already apply from 1 January 2026 (Article 59).
The transition is generous, but it has a precise limit. Toys that were placed on the market in conformity with the directive before 1 August 2030 may still be made available after that date (Article 57(1)). "Placed on the market" refers to each individual item, not to a toy model (Blue Guide 2022, section 2.3). A box of toys that a retailer received from you in July 2030 can still be sold. But units that are still in your own stock on 1 August 2030, not yet supplied to anyone, have not been placed on the market yet, and must meet the new regulation. The same goes for a shipment you import in September 2030.
EC type-examination certificates issued under the directive stay valid until 1 February 2031, unless they expire earlier (Article 57(3)).
The digital product passport replaces the declaration of conformity
Under the directive, the manufacturer draws up an EU declaration of conformity. Under the regulation, that document disappears. Instead, the manufacturer creates a digital product passport for each toy model before placing it on the market, and by doing so takes responsibility for the toy's compliance (Article 19(1), (2)(a) and (4), recital 58).
The passport must contain at least the data in Annex VI, Part I. That includes:
- a unique product identifier and a colour image of the toy;
- the name and address of the manufacturer and, where there is one, the authorised representative;
- the name and address of the economic operator in the EU responsible under Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;
- references to all EU laws the toy complies with and the harmonised standards used;
- the list of allergenic fragrances in the toy that have to be labelled.
The passport is reached through a data carrier, such as a QR code, on the toy or on a label attached to it. Only if the size or nature of the toy does not allow that may the carrier go on the packaging or an accompanying document (Article 19(7)). The passport must be available in the languages required by the member state where the toy is sold, and remain available for 10 years (Article 19(2)).
For toys with electronics there is a practical advantage. If the passport contains everything required for the declarations under RoHS, the EMC Directive, the Low Voltage Directive or the Radio Equipment Directive, it replaces those declarations too (Article 19(5)). One document instead of several. Our article on RoHS for sellers outside the EU explains what RoHS requires.
How the passport will look technically is still being worked out in a delegated act (Article 49(1)), and the Commission can add data that have to go into the central registry (Article 49(3)). The basics are already fixed: the registry holds the product identifier, the operator identifier and the commodity code (Article 22(1)).
The passport check at customs
This is the change that will hit importers first. Anyone who wants to place a toy under the customs procedure "release for free circulation" has to give customs the unique registration identifier from the passport registry. Customs may only release the toy after checking that this identifier and the commodity code match the data in the registry (Article 23(2) and (3)). The check runs automatically, through the link between the registry and the EU single window for customs (EU CSW-CERTEX), from the moment that link works or from 1 August 2030, whichever is later (Article 23(4)).
Annex VII lists the commodity codes that fall under this check. It goes beyond chapter 95: it also includes, for example, children's paints and modelling paste. A release by customs is not proof that the toy complies (Article 23(3)). It only shows that the toy's identifiers are registered.
In practice this means that the passport and the registry entry must be ready before the goods ship, not after they arrive. A toy listed in Annex VII that arrives without a valid registration identifier will not be released for free circulation.
Not sure whether your toys meet EN 71 today? Our toy testing service checks your product against the EN 71 standards, so you know where you stand before the new rules apply.
Stricter rules on chemicals
The directive already restricted many chemicals. The regulation goes further, and it bans whole classes of hazardous substances in toys (Annex II, Part III):
- Generic bans. Substances with a harmonised classification under the CLP Regulation as carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR, category 1A, 1B or 2), endocrine disruptors (category 1 or 2), toxic to a specific organ (category 1), respiratory sensitisers (category 1) or skin sensitisers (category 1A) may not be present in toys (point 4). Points 7 to 10 contain the exceptions, for example for unavoidable traces and for specific permitted uses.
- PFAS. The intentional use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in toys is prohibited (point 5).
- Bisphenols. The bisphenols listed in Part D of the appendix may not be present in toys (point 6). Under the directive, only bisphenol A had a limit value.
- Fragrances. A long list of allergenic fragrances may not be used, unless their presence is technically unavoidable and does not exceed 10 mg/kg. A second list of allergenic fragrances must be named on the toy, the label, the packaging or a leaflet, and in the passport, when they are present above 10 mg/kg. In toys for children under 36 months and toys meant to be put in the mouth, those fragrances are not allowed above 10 mg/kg at all (Appendix to Annex II, Part A, points 4 and 5, and Part B, point 1).
Before placing a toy on the market, the manufacturer must also carry out a safety assessment that covers chemical, physical, mechanical, electrical, flammability, hygiene and radioactivity hazards, including the combined exposure to different chemicals (Article 25).
For a seller who buys from a factory in Asia, the chemical rules are where most risk sits. A factory that tests to the current limits will not automatically switch its plastics, inks or fragrances. Our article on SVHC and REACH Annex XVII tests explains how chemical testing works for consumer products.
Warnings, marketplaces and fulfilment
Warnings, such as the minimum age or "only under adult supervision", must be clearly visible to the consumer before purchase, also when the toy is sold online (Article 6(3)).
Online marketplaces get specific duties. On marketplaces that connect businesses with consumers, information about an offer of a toy that does not comply counts as illegal content under the Digital Services Act. The marketplace must design its interface so that sellers can show the CE marking, the warnings and the data carrier or link to the passport (Article 14(1) and (3)). Marketplaces are likely to make those fields mandatory, and to remove listings that leave them empty.
Fulfilment service providers, such as the warehouse that stores and ships your stock, must make sure storage and shipping do not affect the toy's safety and cooperate in withdrawals and recalls. If they have reason to believe a toy does not comply, they may not support its sale (Article 11).
What importers and sellers from outside the EU have to do
If you sell toys under your own brand, you are the manufacturer, even when a factory in China makes them (Article 3, point 3, and Article 12(1)). You carry out the safety assessment and the conformity assessment, create the passport, affix the data carrier and the CE marking, upload the product and operator identifiers to the registry, and keep the technical documentation and the passport for 10 years (Articles 7(2) and (3) and 25).
If you import toys made by someone else, you have to check before placing them on the market that the manufacturer has carried out the conformity assessment, drawn up the technical documentation and created the passport, that the data carrier and the CE marking are on the toy, that instructions and warnings are in the local language, and that the passport data are in the registry (Article 9(2)). You also put your own name and postal and electronic address on the toy, or where that is not possible on the packaging, an accompanying document or in the passport (Article 9(4)).
A seller outside the EU still needs an economic operator in the EU who is responsible under Article 4 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020. That is often an authorised representative with a written mandate, and the mandate must include the tasks of that article (Article 8(4)). The name and address of that operator go into the passport (Annex VI, Part I, point (c)).
Selling toys in the EU from outside the EU? Our EU Authorised Representative service also covers CE-marked products such as toys: we keep your documentation available for the authorities and are their contact point in the EU.
What you can do now
Until August 2030 the directive applies, so the declaration of conformity and the current EN 71 tests remain what you need today. Our CE declaration of conformity for toys helps with that. But some steps pay off now, because they take time:
- Ask your factory about PFAS, bisphenols and fragrances. Changing a material or a recipe takes a supplier months, and you want to know before you place your 2030 orders.
- Collect your data per toy model. The passport needs an identifier, a colour image, the standards used and all applicable EU laws per model. Sellers with many small variants should start grouping their range now.
- Plan your last orders under the directive. Only units you have actually supplied to a retailer or customer before 1 August 2030 can still be sold under the old rules. Units left in your own stock on that date, and shipments that arrive later, need a passport and a registry entry.
- Check how you show warnings online. Under the General Product Safety Regulation, online offers already have to show warnings and safety information (Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2023/988). The toy regulation adds that the data carrier of the passport must also be visible before purchase (Article 19(7)). Showing the CE marking in the listing as well is good practice, and marketplaces must make room for it.
Our article on the digital product passport explains the background of the passport under the Ecodesign Regulation, on which the toy passport is built.
Checklist
- Note 1 August 2030 as the date from which the regulation applies, and 1 February 2031 for EC type-examination certificates.
- Decide your role: if you sell under your own brand, you are the manufacturer.
- Keep using the declaration of conformity and EN 71 tests until the regulation applies.
- Ask your suppliers whether their materials contain PFAS, bisphenols, CMR substances or allergenic fragrances.
- Prepare per toy model the data for the passport: identifier, colour image, standards, applicable laws.
- Make sure an economic operator in the EU is responsible for your toys, for example an authorised representative with a written mandate.
- From 2030: create the passport and registry entry before shipping, and give customs the registration identifier.
- Show warnings and the passport link in every online listing, and preferably the CE marking too.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2025/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2025 on the safety of toys and repealing Directive 2009/48/EC, Articles 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 19, 22, 23, 25, 49, 57 and 59, Annexes II, VI and VII, recital 58. EUR-Lex
- Directive 2009/48/EC on the safety of toys. EUR-Lex
- Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance and compliance of products, Article 4. EUR-Lex
- Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety (GPSR), Article 19. EUR-Lex
- Commission Notice, The "Blue Guide" on the implementation of EU product rules 2022 (2022/C 247/01), section 2.3.
- Consulted October 2026.
