Abu Dhabi: The Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) announced on Saturday that the updated standards on children’s toys will be submitted to the Federal Cabinet, which will issue a regulatory resolution to approve the implementation of the GCC-mandatory technical regulations and guides for these products in the UAE.
ESMA affirmed that it is implementing an integrated strategy to improve specifications and quality of national and imported children products to protect children and support national economy through compliance with UAE, Gulf and international certified safety standards and requirements.
Abdullah Al Maeeni, Acting Director of ESMA, said the new Conformity Assessment Regulation for Children’s Toys, endorsed by ESMA board, would develop mechanisms of monitoring children products on the local market so as to ensure maximum levels of children’s safety and health. The prime goal, he added, is to make sure that children face no risks when using these products.
All toys sold in the UAE and Gulf countries need to meet the requirements set by the GCC Standardisation Organisation. Toys authorised by ESMA currently have the Gulf Conformity Mark, which testifies compliance with GCC-wide safety and health regulations for toys.
The purpose of the GCC regulation is to ensure a high level of protection for consumers and to establish a legislative framework for any product placed on the market, supplied, made available or intended for consumers, or likely to be used by consumers under reasonably foreseeable conditions even if not intended for them, and also to ensure the safety of local or imported products placed on internal markets of the member states.
He added that ESMA is conducting regular meetings with market regulators, suppliers, vendors and manufacturers to enlighten them on the regulations and requirements that toys should meet under the GCC technical safety and health regulations.
He put the value of the UAE toys market at Dh1.8 billion a year with an annual average spending of a child at Dh1,300.
