Kuneva tells EU laggards to unite against toxic toys

Meglena Kuneva, European commissioner for consumer protection, has delivered a stern message to national governments failing to toe the line on consumer protection. Kuneva criticised national administrations for dodging the enforcement of EU rules.

She was speaking in the wake of the latest ‘Made in China’ scare, in which toymaker Mattel was forced this week to recall more than 800,000 toys because of fears that they were tainted with lead.

Under pressure from member states and the European Parliament to take action in the run-up to the Christmas shopping season, Kuneva said that EU countries should confront the problem as one. She said that no European country on its own could talk on an equal footing with China.

Mattel called back 800,000 toys on Tuesday (4 September), including 675,000 Barbie doll accessories, adding to concerns about toxic toys. Mattel’s last recall in mid-August covered 19 million toys worldwide. This followed a recall of 1.5 million toys at the beginning of August. More than half the toys sold in the EU are made in China.

German Finance Minister Michael Glos this week wrote to Günter Verheugen, the commissioner for enterprise and industry, suggesting that an EU-wide technical service agency be set up to inspect imported Chinese toys. The Portuguese government has also demanded action from Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

But Kuneva insisted that current legislation should be enforced properly before creating new structures. She said: "Even the alleged consumer champions are failing to transpose directives properly. Without enforcement, we are losing credibility in the Union…EU citizens are writing to the Commission as a last resort."

Kuneva will discuss the situation next week (12-13 September) with Parliament’s internal market and consumer protection committee.

UK Socialist MEP Arlene McCarthy, who chairs the committee, said: "My concern as someone who is elected to represent constituents is that we’re coming up to Christmas now and a lot of the stuff will already be sitting in warehouses. That’s why we need urgent action now."

Under the EU customs alert system for defective goods, Rapex (Rapid Exchange of Information System), countries are required to report immediately any cases of unsafe products. According to McCarthy, the UK, Germany and Hungary have performed well on notifications, with France, Belgium and Denmark lagging at the bottom of the league. Overall, the system is reported to be improving, delivering about 1,000 alerts in the first half of this year, matching the total number of alerts in the whole of last year.

Kuneva is expecting a report in mid-October from the Chinese authorities on their response to Rapex alerts.

Next week Kuneva will discuss with MEPs whether fast-track procedures for banning toxic goods are warranted. Bans will, however, remain a last resort. The commissioner insisted that the EU should continue working with existing tools such as Rapex and its special division EU-China Rapex. "The EU market is closed for dangerous products. It’s over," she said. "We will implement our standards and we will stop the goods...if I see a need to ban, I will go further. But, if you ban without enough measures to implement the ban, that would be even more dangerous."

Calls for the EU to impose a ban could increase if the US administration bows to growing public pressure for tougher controls.

The Commission fears prohibited goods might be diverted to the EU market.

Kuneva will visit the US at the beginning of October in a bid to dissuade the US Consumer Product Safety Commission from radical action. President George W. Bush has commissioned a 60-day working group to report on the matter on 16 September, following calls from Congress for a clamp-down.

Ahead of the forthcoming EU-China summit on 28 November, Kuneva will liaise with fellow commissioners Peter Mandelson (trade), Verheugen, László Kóvacs (taxation and customs union), Markos Kyprianou (health) and Benita Ferrero-Waldner (external affairs) to strengthen EU defences against dangerous products and to forge a common stance.

A Chinese official said: "We should not extend this affair to all areas like trade policy, to use it as a weapon or an excuse to harm Chinese interests."

Meglena Kuneva, European commissioner for consumer protection, has delivered a stern message to national governments failing to toe the line on consumer protection. Kuneva criticised national administrations for dodging the enforcement of EU rules.