We are unsure whether our product counts as a toy

The toy rules turn on one definition. Directive 2009/48/EC applies to products designed or intended, whether or not exclusively, for use in play by children under 14 years of age (Article 2(1)). The words "whether or not exclusively" matter: a product with another purpose can still be a toy if play by children is part of what it is designed or intended for. The directive then sets aside two groups. Annex I lists products that are not considered toys, and Article 2(2) lists toys to which the directive does not apply: playground equipment and automatic playing machines intended for public use, toy vehicles with combustion engines, toy steam engines, and slings and catapults.^[1]

Annex I is specific. It names, among others, decorative objects for festivities, products for collectors marked for ages 14 and above, sports equipment for children over 20 kg, bicycles with a saddle height over 435 mm, puzzles with more than 500 pieces, functional educational products above 24 volts sold for teaching, computers and consoles unless specifically designed for children with play value of their own, babies' soothers, child-appealing luminaires, and fashion accessories for children not for use in play.^[1]

If the product is a toy, the directive's route applies. The manufacturer analyses the chemical, physical, mechanical, electrical, flammability, hygiene and radioactivity hazards and the potential exposure before placing the toy on the market (Article 18). Internal production control is available only where harmonised standards covering all relevant safety requirements were applied; the toy goes through EC-type examination where no such standards exist, where they were not applied or applied only in part, where a standard was published with a restriction, or where the manufacturer considers that the toy's nature, design, construction or purpose requires third-party verification (Article 19(2) and (3)). Warnings follow Article 11 and Annex V, and those that drive the purchase must be visible before buying, also online (Article 11(2)).^[1]

The directive is being replaced. Regulation (EU) 2025/2509 keeps the under-14 test and adds that a product is intended for play where a parent or supervisor can reasonably assume so from its functions, dimensions and characteristics (Article 2(1)); the Commission may decide by implementing act whether specific products are toys (Article 2(3)). Its Annex I Part I keeps four of the directive's five excluded toys but not slings and catapults, so from 1 August 2030 slings and catapults are toys where they meet the definition (Article 2(1)–(2) and Annex I). Part II keeps the list of products that are not toys, limits decorative objects to those without play value and luminaires to continuously wired ones, and adds paint ball equipment and reading and educational books for children over 36 months without play value. It applies from 1 August 2030, with some articles from 1 January 2026 (Article 59); toys placed on the market in conformity with the directive before 1 August 2030 may still be made available (Article 57(1)). From that date its Annex II, Part III also bans further substances in toys, among them intentionally used PFAS, the bisphenols in its Appendix and endocrine disruptors for human health, and a digital product passport replaces the EU declaration of conformity (Article 19).^[2]

A product that is not a toy is not free of rules. The General Product Safety Regulation applies where no specific Union rules with the same objective cover safety (Article 2(1)). For consumer products, its safety assessment takes into account vulnerable consumers such as children (Article 6(1)(e)) and products that, although not intended for children, are likely to be used by them or resemble something appealing to them (Article 6(1)(f)(ii)).^[3]