The National Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) controlled almost 1,000 economic operators that sell toys. Irregularities were found in most stores and fines exceeding four million lei were given.
Fines of over 4 million lei applied to toy stores – Photo adobestock
ANPC commissioners carried out several control actions throughout the country to check compliance with the legal provisions regarding toy safety, including online commerce (analysis of presentation and advertising sites).
More precisely, 963 operators were checked and irregularities were found in 875. 864 fines were issued, totaling 4.25 million lei, and 419 warnings were issued.
“Not infrequently, inadvertently and ignoring the warnings on the product's packaging or label, parents buy their children toys that are not suitable for their age, and that can endanger their health or even their lives. That is why it is important to be very careful when buying toys, so as not to turn children's joy into a tragedy“, the interim president of ANPC, Sebastian Hotca, said.
“Most of the verified companies carry out, on the market, the direct sale of toys, their number reaching 947, of which 872 irregularities were registered. From the point of view of the controlled products, their number exceeded 630,000 pieces, worth approximately 3.8 million lei. In about 550,000 products among those checked, worth about 1.1 million lei, various deviations were identified“, stated ANPC representatives in the press release.
In addition, 480,000 products were temporarily stopped from being sold, until the identified deficiencies are remedied. Moreover, 65,000 toys, worth 600,000 lei, were permanently stopped from sale.
Irregularities found:
The most important irregularities found were:
– lack of mention on the toy label of the name, address and contact details of the manufacturers and/or the importer
– lack of mention on the toy label of the unique lot identification number
– lack of mention on the toy label of the CE mark or the use of a non-compliant mark
– lack of mention on the toy label of identification elements/use instructions in Romanian or technical documentation
– the sale of damaged toys or with damaged packaging
– the sale of toys without the chemical composition being mentioned on the label
– the sale of toys without mentioning, on the label, the general (age) and specific warnings, as well as the indications regarding precautions for use
– the sale of toys that imitate food products
– the sale of toys that contain toxic/unknown substances, being considered dangerous
– the sale of toys notified in the European alert system for non-food products RAPEX, although their sale is prohibited
– the sale of toys that contained textile fibers similar to the doll's hair, which were easily detached, toys with different fillings or with an elastic band with a ring at the end, which could endanger the safety of users
– non-compliance with the promotions regime (failure to mention the date on which it ends/or the mention that the promotion is valid within the limit of available stock)
– selling some toys without showing the sale price
– lack of operating permit.
ANPC inspected the websites of 16 economic operators that sell toys online, of which irregularities were found in three. Fines of 11,000 lei were applied.
Among the problems found in online toy retailers are: the inclusion in the websites of the abrogated legal provisions regarding the right to unilaterally terminate the contract; the absence of a form or the display of an incorrect term for withdrawal from the contract; non-compliance with the delivery deadline; the sale of toys without instructions and information translated into Romanian; and not displaying the promotion period or the phrase “within the limit of available stock”.
