Placing on the market of toys

GRTU has received this important information letter from the Malta Standards Authority and we are passing it to you as members.

Council Directive 88/378/EEC as amended by Council Directive 93/68/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning the safety of toys, cover the placing on the European market of toys. These directives have been transposed into Maltese law through Legal Notice 337 of 2002, Safety of Toys Regulation. 

The above Directive requires that all products falling under this category carry the CE marking demonstrating compliance to the applicable directives. The CE mark is required to be affixed by the manufacturer of the toy after appropriate tests are carried out and a declaration of conformity is issued.

Thus, all toys imported into, or manufactured in the European Union, including Malta, is required to have the CE marking affixed to it as well as other warnings and indications of precautions as necessary.

It should be stressed that manufacturers and distributors retain the responsibility for certifying the conformity of their products to the relevant essential requirements of the Directives mentioned above.

It is essential therefore, that before issuing an EC declaration of conformity, the manufacturer or his authorized representative established in the Community provides a technical construction file. It is not, however, essential that all documentation be permanently available in a material manner, but it must be made available on demand.

This letter is to be considered as a measure that the Head of Market Surveillance Directorate of the Malta Standards Authority thought necessary to adopt in order to ‘suppress or prevent practices which are detrimental to product safety' as per the Fourth Schedule of the Establishment of Directorates of Malta Standards Authority Order, 2008 (L.N.39/2008) and more specifically Part III Article 15(d) of the Product Safety Act (Chapter 427 of the Laws of Malta).

Should you have any queries, or require further information on the matter, please contact the undersigned on telephone number 21242420 or e-mail to or .