Toy Industry Association

A Resource for Parents on Toys and Play – Gets Makeover

This summer, the Toy Industry Association (TIA) has worked on enhancing its consumer website, http://www.toyinfo.org/, to create a more robust resource for parents on the topics of toys and play. As the updates continue and the site evolves, TIA invites members of the Safe Kids Worldwide community to provide additional recommendations for new content.

When it was originally developed, http://www.toyinfo.org/ was primarily focused on educating consumers about toy safety standards and testing processes. The site will continue to feature independent expert perspectives on toy safety from the medical and child safety communities, behind-the-scenes toy testing and design videos, recall notifications, and toy buying tips. The redesign adds a broader range of content – including a comprehensive “Play Is Forever” section – that will help to foster consumer awareness of the positive influence of play in the development of children.

Working alongside strategic partners such as Safe Kids Worldwide, AARP, and others, TIA is leveraging online tools to generate traffic and engagement on the site. Discussion boards and a new “ToyTalk” blog – penned by Michelle Burford, a founding Senior Editor at O: The Oprah Magazine – have been added.

Likely the young people it serves, http://www.toyinfo.org/ is growing and developing every day. TIA invites all stakeholders to explore the website and to provide feedback and recommendations for additional content. From tips for choosing age-appropriate toys, suggestions for play activities, comments on toy trends, recommendations of expert spokespeople (e.g., safety experts, educators, medical professionals, developmental psychologists discussing the value of play, etc.), and more … content of all types is welcome and encouraged!


Toy Industry Association Joins CPSC Chairman at APEC Toy Safety Initiative Workshop

Members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) – a forum of 21 Pacific Rim economies that come together to promote trade and investment in the region – took steps to strengthen consumer product safety standards and practices through the new APEC Toy Safety Initiative that launched on August 1st in Singapore.

APEC member economies produce roughly 85% percent of the world’s toy supply; 19 of the 21 APEC member economies exported toys in 2008.

The new Toy Safety Initiative is a focused regional effort to increase transparency, encourage better alignment of standards, and reduce unnecessary impediments to trade related to current and future toy safety standards and practices.

The keynote address during the two-day opening workshop, entitled “A Regulator Dialogue on Toy Safety,” was given by newly appointed Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Inez Tenenbaum.

TIA President Carter Keithley provided an overview of the various types of conformity assessment approaches (first-, second- and third-party assurances) used to both assess and assure conformance with rigorous toy safety standards. Tenenbaum and Keithley also provided a briefing on new requirements under the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

Elizabeth Borrelli, executive director of the TIA-sponsored Toy Safety Certification Program (TSCP), gave an overview of the program and explain that it was created to take a proactive stance in developing and promoting a conformity assessment system to verify that toys produced for sale in the United States comply with relevant standards. Ms. Borrelli addressed how recent changes in global standards and regulations are changing the way toymakers are doing business on a global scale.

During a panel discussion on the increased harmonization of toy safety standards, Ms. Kitty Pilarz, director of worldwide product safety at Mattel, introduced the U.S. standard ASTM F-963, Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety. Additional speakers introduced the international (ISO 8124) and European regional (EN-71) standards.

Altogether, regulators from 20 of the 21 APEC economies were represented and 12 of the nations gave formal presentations to share their best practices related to toy safety.A second event, “An Open Dialogue on Toy Safety for All Stakeholders,” will be held on the margins of the Hong Kong Toy Fair in January 2010.

It is funded by the U.S. Toy Industry Association (TIA) and the U.S. Government with matching funds from APEC. The governments of Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam have signed on as co-sponsors.