Always in demand, toys have long represented a sound importing opportunity with many upsides. With the toy market projected to hit $230 billion by 2028, many are now looking to capitalize on the opportunity and import products such as the ever-popular ride-on kids’ car. Wholesale factories in China are now producing both electronic miniature replicas and self-powered versions of the ride-on car for kids to a very high standard.

Relatively light and with year-round appeal, importing ride on car toys from China to Europe requires an understanding of some of the current European regulations, specifically three key aspects:

• Legal certifications (CE, RoHS)
• Duty tariffs on toys imported from China
• Required licenses (branded products)

Understanding the relevance of these three aspects to the importing of Chinese toys is vital to ensuring you stay on the right side of EU regulation. Failure to grasp the reasoning could result in rejected shipments, delays, and even hefty fines. Read on, therefore, to find out exactly what you need to import kids’ car toys from China to Europe.

What certificate do you need for importing kids’ car toys from China to Europe?

The toy should meet the standards defined in the Toy Safety Directive

Each and every toy imported into or manufactured in the EU is regulated by the Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC, aimed at products for children under 14 years of age. This regulation sets out the rules on toy safety and came into force on July 20, 2011, replacing an older, now outdated directive. Conforming to the directive ensures a toy can also be freely moved within EU borders, making full use of the trading bloc.

The Toy Safety Directive contains a list of all the essential legal requirements a toy must conform to before it can be placed for sale on the European Union marketplace. The requirements pertain to general and particular risks. General risks regard the health and safety of children while playing with the toy and particular risks relate to the toy’s intrinsic properties, e.g., the flammability of the material or its electronic capabilities.

The toy should be CE marked

Manufacturers intending for a toy to be imported and sold in the EU market have an obligation to draw up and store a technical file and a Declaration of Conformity to the Toy Safety Directive’s requirements. This must be stored for at least ten years.

In order to make a product’s conformity to EU standards is as clear as possible for the consumerr, the CE mark is used as an indicator.

All toys sold in the European Union need to bear the CE mark. This signifies the toy car, for example, complies with the EU Harmonised Standards for Health and Safety.

For toys, the European Standard known as EN71 is particularly important to become acquainted with. EN71 is a subset of the CE directive and has been rolled out to ensure all toys sold within the EU meet a minimum standard of safety in regard to:

Mechanics

Noise

Flame retardation

Chemical composition

Electrical safety

Sanitation

Radiation

In applying the CE mark and drafting a Declaration of Conformity, the manufacturer of the toy is claiming it is suitable for the EU marketplace. As an importer, therefore, it is vital that both of these are present, and it is your duty to ensure compliance is not compromised.

Should a supplier not be CE compliant or not have conducted EN71 tests, it is possible to use get the products tested yourself. A good supplier, however, will be able to provide a passing report.

In addition, when it comes to toy cars, other European Standards may be relevant such as EN62115, a revised electrical toy standard intended to achieve worldwide harmonization. With electrical toy cars coming under the scope of EN62115, the international standard reduces the risk of non-self-evident harms when playing with electric toys, including:

• Overheating
• Insulation strength and suitability
• Component failure
• Component suitability
• Resistance to heat and fire
• Moisture resistance

Revised in 2020, EN62115 is a necessary certification for selling electric toy cars in Europe and should be ideally be supplied by the manufacturer.

The toy may need to meet other directives such as RoHS

As well as conforming to the Toy Safety Directive and bearing a CE mark, some toys imported into the European Union also require additional compliance material.

With some toy cars being electronic, it is important to check the product being imported complies with the EU directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances (RoHS). This directive restricts the use of certain heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and cadmium in components and includes chargers and cables in its scope.

Batteries tend not to come under the scope of the RoHS directive, however, as they fall under the 2006/66/EC Battery Directive instead. Another important regulation, compliance with this, is typically undertaken by the manufacturer of the battery itself, with the toy manufacturer and importer carrying a duty to ensure due diligence has taken place.

How to check the duty tariff when importing toys from China

Understand the customs tariff, TARIC

Importing any goods from China to the European Union means expecting to pay the relevant fees regarding the customs tariff.

In the case of toys, the integrated Tariff of the European Union, known as TARIC (https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp?Lang=en), tells importers what fees they should expect to pay for products. The database can be used free of charge and is maintained by the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union.

With all products varying in origin, material, and intended use, the TARIC database helps collect and order the vast amount of goods coming into the EU every year.

Look up the duty rate of the HS code

In order to know what customs fees need to be paid, you need to find out your product’s Harmonized System (HS) code. This industry classification was developed by the World Customs Organization and is used to look up the duty rate of a commodity such as toy cars.

Despite having a slight learning curve, becoming familiar with the TARIC system is vital to successfully importing, taking the guesswork out of duty rates.

In the European external trade statistics, toys and games, including products such as ride-on toy cars, fall under Section XX (https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/system/files/2020-02/roo_chap_94-96_en.pdf). In Chapter 95, entitled “Toys, games and sports requisites; parts and accessories thereof,” we can see that the HS code for “Tricycles, scooters, pedal cars and similar toys; dolls’ carriages; dolls; other toys; reduced-size (scale) models and similar recreational models, working or not” is 9503.

Entering the code “9503” into the TARIC database gives us our results (https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp?Lang=en&Taric=9503&Expand=true&SimDate=20220125#9503000000).

We can see that “tricycles, scooters, pedal cars, and similar wheeled toys; dolls’ carriages” have a 0% duty rate, with toys incorporating a motor having a 4.7% fee.

• 9503 00 10 00 – tricycles, scooters, pedal cars, and similar wheeled toys; dolls’ carriages – 0%
• 9503 00 75 90 – other plastic toys and models, incorporating a motor – 4.7%

Beware of licensing issues

In addition, however, it is also vital for an importer to familiarize themselves with any licenses required for the selling of their products in the EU. In order to clear customs, branded toys such as Disney products that fall under a registered trademark need importers to demonstrate a relevant license. Companies such as Disney protect their intellectual property fiercely, and importers should be wary their products stay on the right side of the law at all times.

Failure to obtain such a license can result in cargo being upheld at customs borders and, in some cases, hefty fines being served.

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Armed with this knowledge, understanding the rules and regulations on importing toy cars into the European Union should be a lot clearer. By making sure your products have an up-to-date Declaration of Compliance drafted by the manufacturer and a visible CE mark on the toy itself, you ensure you are doing your due diligence as an economic operator.