Fraud crackdowns are also highlighting more anomalies in products sold on online marketplaces.
Over 225,000 non-compliant toys and toys “hazardous” were destroyed in 2023 in France, fraud Repression indicates on Monday in its annual report which highlights a greater number of anomalies on products sold on online markets. “We control a vrey wide range of actors throughout the year and in all links of the chain: production when it takes place in France, import and distribution”summarizes François Sobry, spokesperson for the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud control (DGCCRF).
In 2023,controls on toys – in shops and on online sales sites – affected “more than 2000 factories”of which 28% presented “violations of different nature,a stable rate in recent years. The results of the investigations therefore justified 407 warnings,93 compliance injunctions and 18 criminal proceedings.indicates the press release from Fraud Repression. Indicates what the main causes of danger are “the presence of small elements in toys intended for children under 3 years of age and access to fibrous fillings in soft toys which pose a risk of suffocation”. more generally, “Problems remain more frequent among non-specialist distributors and on some websites”it is specified.
“Worrying rates” for e-commerce sites
During their checks, investigators decided to complete nearly 700 cases “samples” toys to be subjected to mechanical, chemical or even flammability tests in the laboratory: “47% presented non-compliance and 19% proved to be dangerous”. And for the 70 products coming only from 13 e-commerce platforms – which are not named – this percentage rises to “Worrying rates”OR “79% of non-compliant toys, of which 36% are dangerous”.
In total, more than 225,000 toys were destroyed in 2023, compared to 184,000 the previous year, Fraud Repression told AFP. Among the products destroyed, he cites as an example “an illuminated bubble gun whose batteries were too easily accessible, which posed a risk of absorption and suffocation; balloons that contained carcinogenic substances exceeding regulatory thresholds; a disguise whose strings presented a risk of strangulation”.