UK Drafted the Toys and Cosmetic Products (Restriction of Chemical Substances) Regulations 2022

2022-05-17

On 2022-04-13, the United Kingdom (UK) notified the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (notification ref: G/TBT/N/GBR/47) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) about their amendments to their Toys (Safety) Regulation 2011 (“the Toys Regulations”) and the Cosmetics Regulation 1223/2009 ("the Cosmetics Regulations") as applicable in England, Wales and Scotland.

Products covered in the amendment are toys (HS code 95) and cosmetics products (HS code 33), and the amended standard will be titled as The Toys and Cosmetic Products (Restriction of Chemical Substances) Regulations 2022. The objective of this amendment is to revise the permitted use of specific chemicals in order to ensure that only safe toys and cosmetics products can be placed on the UK market.

Rationale for the Changes:

Chemicals for the control are classified in the following three categories:

No.	Chemicals	Cosmetic Regulations	Toy Regulations
1	Carcinogen Mutagen and Reprotoxic substances (CMRs) as classified under GB CLP regulations	amended to reflect the CLP classification	-
2	Fragrance allergens, used in toys including finger paints and modelling clay	-	amended to prohibit the use of these chemicals
3	Under the Science Advisory Group-Chemical Safety (SAG-CS) reviews	permit the use of salicylic acid only in specific instances and prohibit the use of deoxyarbutin	reduce the permitted limits of aluminium, aniline and formaldehyde

Major Changes to Toys Regulation:

The existing Toys (Safety) Regulations are amended as follows:

Part 3 (chemical properties) of Schedule 2 (particular safety requirements):

- In the first table at point 11 (prohibited allergic fragrances) after row 55, (treemoss extracts), the following items were inserted:

No.	Name of the Allergenic Fragrance	CAS No.
56	Atranol (2,6-Dihydroxy-4-methyl-benzaldehyde)	526-37-4
57	Chloroatranol (3-Chloro-2,6-Dihydroxy-4-methyl-benzaldehyde)	57074-21-2
58	Methyl Heptine Carbonate	111-12-6

- In the table at point 13, for the element in the first row, the limits of aluminium are revised as follows:

Element	mg/kg in Dry, Brittle, Powder-like or Pliable Toy Material	mg/kg in Liquid or Sticky Toy Material	mg/kg in Scraped-off Toy Material
Aluminium	2,250	560	28,130

Appendix C to Schedule 2

- At the end of the table (limit values for chemicals used in toys intended for use by children under 36 months), the following entries were added:

Substance	CAS No.	Limit Value
Aniline	62-53-3	30 mg/kg after reductive cleavage in textile and leather materials 30 mg/kg after reductive cleavage in finger paints 10 mg/kg as free aniline in finger paints
Formaldehyde	50-00-0	Polymeric 1.5 mg/l (migration limit) Resin-bonded wood 0.1 ml/m3 (emission limit) Textile 30 mg/kg Leather 30 mg/kg Paper 30 mg/kg Water-based 10 mg/kg