Brazil has revised two pieces of legislation to change the country’s requirements for toys and school supplies.
The Brazilian National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology (INMETRO) has published Ordinance No. 217 of June 18, 2020 (the ‘Ordinance’). It came into effect on June 24, 2020 – the date of publishing – and revises:
- Ordinance No. 481 of December 7, 2010 ‘Assessment Requirements for Compliance with School Supplies’ (Ordinance 481/2010)
- Ordinance No. 563 of December 29, 2016 ‘Technical Regulation and Conformity Assessment Requirements for Toys’ (Ordinance 563/2016)
The Ordinance moves ‘modeling clay’ from the scope of Ordinance 481/2010 and reclassifies it as a toy. It therefore now needs to be certified according to Ordinance 563/2016.
There is also a comprehensive set of changes relating to toys, under Ordinance 563/2016. These include:
- New compliance dates set for domestic manufacturers, importers, distributors and other businesses that carry out trade activities for compliance with the Ordinance on toy safety
- Setting a new compliance date of January 1, 2022 for toys containing expanded ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer to comply with the more stringent limit for formamide content (from 0.5% to 0.3%)
- A new set of complementary standards and documents, including a completely new standard for laser product safety, to be adopted for Technical Quality Regulation:
- ABNT NBR NM 300-1:2011 ’General, mechanical and physical properties’
- ABNT NMR NM 300-2:2004 ‘Flammability’
- ABNT NBR NM 300-3:2011 ‘Migration of certain elements’
- ABNT NBR NM 300-4:2004 ‘Experimental sets for chemistry and related activities’
- ABNT NBR NM 300-5:2004 ‘Chemical toys (sets) other than chemistry sets
- ABNT NBR NM 300-6:2004 ‘Electric toys’
- ABNT NBR 13793:2012 ‘Feeding bottles and nipples’
- ABNT NBR 11786:1998 ‘Specifications’ – this cancelled standard is used for 2 tests in this RTQ on a normative basis
- ABNT NBR 16040:2018 ‘Phthalates – determination of phthalic plasticizers by gas chromatography’
- ABNT ISO/TR 8124-8:2017 ‘Age determination guidelines’
- IEC 60825-1:2014 ‘Safety of laser products’
- Inmetro Ordinance No. 250, 2016
- New definitions – includes a new definition for ‘toy’ – any product designed or clearly intended for use in play by children under fourteen years of age
- Extending the validity of the Certificate of Conformity (CoC) from ‘3 years’ to ‘5 years’
- Extending the maintenance evaluation period (audit and tests) from ‘6 months’ to ’12 months’ after the CoC has been issued
- A completely new requirement for all packaging to contain the supplier’s identification (ID), containing the company name or when available, the trade name and/or registered trademark and address. This ID and address can be abbreviated but must be clearly identified
- New warnings and statements, including those for marbles for the 0-3 age group
- New warning on packaging for aquatic toys
- New warnings for teethers and a completely new set of warnings for toy swings
The Ordinance has also modified the list of products that are not considered to be toys.
The latest amendment stipulates that toys must comply with the Ordinance on ‘Technical Regulation and Conformity Assessment Requirements for Toys’ by the following dates:
- January 1, 2022 – domestic manufacturers and importers
- January 1, 2023 – manufacturers and importers selling toys
- July 1, 2025 – businesses marketing toys
SGS Toy & Juvenile Product Services
SGS offers a wide range of services to ensure that products comply with relevant standards for juvenile products and childcare articles. They provide consulting, training, product development, testing, audit and inspection services to ensure that products comply with strict regulations worldwide, demonstrating the safety and quality of juvenile products being brought to the market. Learn more about SGS’s Toy & Juvenile Product Services.
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