EU commissioner for consumers, Meglena Kuneva, hopes to sign a voluntary “best safety” agreement with European toy manufacturers before the end of May, she said during a visit to Lego (Billund / Denmark; www.lego.com). In a second step, the Commission intends to expand the pact to toy importers and retailers by the end of 2008, as part of an effort to uncover unsafe products before they reach European consumers. In November, the EU plans to hold a trilaterial meeting on product safety in Brussels, with representatives of the US and China.

Kuneva said European toy manufacturers “are fully on board." While this apparently is the case for Mattel, whose spokesperson said the company had been involved “from the outset,” German companies contacted by PIE, including Playmobil and Simba Dickie, said they were not aware of the EU plans. The two companies test their products according to European and US safety standards.