SG 07/24
The Philippines has initiated a consultation over its draft legislation on toys and childcare articles. Comments were accepted until January 15, 2024.
In December 2023, the Philippine Center for Cosmetics and Household/Urban Hazardous Substances Regulations and Research (CCHUHSRR) initiated a consultation over the nation’s draft Rules and Regulations Governing the Issuance of Authorization for Toys and Childcare Articles (the draft Order).
The draft Order intents to:
- Revise and align toys and childcare articles (TCCA) regulations with appropriate laws and established standards
- Establish the product notification procedure for TCCA
- Justify the issuance of Certificates of Exemption for exempted toys, games and childcare articles
- Determine the roles and responsibilities of market authorization holders (MAH) in ensuring TCCA product safety and quality
This requires a major revision of the current ‘Republic Act 10620’ (An Act Providing for Toy and Game Safety Labeling). This current law and its implementing rules provide guidance/directive to toy suppliers to follow the labeling requirements stated therein. Compliance with toy safety standards is currently voluntary.
Highlights of the draft Order are summarized in Table 1.
Draft Order ‘Rules and Regulations Governing the Issuance of Authorizations for Toys and Childcare Articles’
| Section to Draft Order | Highlights |
|---|---|
| III ‘Scope |
|
| V ‘General guidelines’ |
|
| VI ‘Specific guidelines’ |
|
| VII ‘ Roles and responsibilities’ |
|
| Annex A ‘Decision tree for the classification of TCCA products’ |
|
| Annex B ‘List of requirements for TCCA CPN application’ |
|
| Annex C ‘Product standards’ |
|
| Annex D ‘Labeling and packaging requirements’ |
|
1Only applies to TCCA products that can be placed in the mouth
Table 1
Annex C to draft Order ‘Product Standards’
| Scope of TCCA | Standard (or accepted equivalent)1 |
|---|---|
| Toys |
|
| Childcare articles |
|
1And their future amendments or updates
Table 2
If approved,
- The Order will become effective 15 days following its publication
- The FDA should issue implementing rules or guidelines within six months after the Order becomes effective
- Affected stakeholders are obliged to comply with the new implementing rules or guidelines within six months of them becoming effective
Abbreviations
| Abbreviation | Phthalate |
|---|---|
| BBP | Benzyl butyl phthalate |
| DBP | Dibutyl phthalate |
| DEHP | Di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate |
| DIBP | Diisobutyl phthalate |
| DIDP | Diisodecyl phthalate |
| DINP | Diisononyl phthalate |
| DNOP | Di-n-octyl phthalate |
Table 3
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