Half of toys checked deemed as harmful for children’s health
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, October 17
Public Defender of Georgia Ucha Nanuashvili says there are no safety regulations in the country regarding the import, production or sale of toys.
Nanuashvili says that only one year is left for the development of state regulations in this regard, within the Georgia-EU deal, “but no concrete steps have been taken”.
"The campaign Safe Toy launched by the Public Defender’s office works in two directions: first is raising awareness within society to the importance of toy safety, and some steps have been made in this regard, and the second is the lack of regulation in the country regarding the import, production and sale of toys,” the Public Defender said.
Nanuashvili states that his recommendations for toys were positively received by the state, yet “few things have been done”.
Vakhtang Kobaladze, coordinator of the Center for Strategic Research and Development, announced that 21 out of 44 examined Chinese toys did not pass safety checks.
He stressed those toys with low safety norms were very harmful to the children’s health.
According to the EU Directive on Toy Safety, the state must create toy safety and market supervision mechanisms to ensure availability of safe and secure toys for children.
The Directive shall be implemented in Georgia before September 1, 2019, and according to the Ombudsman it is important to “implement specific actions under the obligations of the Directive before that period.”
On March 9, 2017, the Public Defender of Georgia recommended the Government of Georgia to take measures for the protection of children’s health and safety.
“Due to the difficult situation of safety and monitoring of the Georgian market,” the Public Defender of Georgia launched an informational campaign - Safe Toy on June 1, 2017.
