The European Union has made new measures against lead-containing children’s products. The European Commission Regulation No. 2015/628, which limits the amount of lead in products, came into effect on June 1, 2016 and has been included in the "Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals" And Restriction Regulations (referred to as REACH Regulations).

According to the law, items or parts of items that children can put in their mouths cannot be placed on the EU market if the lead content exceeds the minimum limit of 0.05%. It should be pointed out that the "children" in the regulations refers to the group with high risk of lead exposure, that is, children between 6 and 36 months old; "can be put in the mouth" refers to the length, width, and height of the article or its parts. One side is less than 5 cm, or attached with removable or protruding parts of the same size. Regulated items include items that are used by consumers and may be put in the mouth by children, such as clothing, shoes, related accessories, interior decorations, sports and leisure items, and stationery.

According to the EU Rapid Notification System for Non-Food Consumer Products (RAPEX) in the first half of the year, it was found that a total of 6 batches of products exported to the EU were recalled due to excessive lead content in products or components, involving wooden toys, bracelets, metal beads, etc. Such consumer goods have not only suffered losses for enterprises, but also made "Made in China" criticized. The Trade Service Center also learned that for these recalled companies, failure to track the update of foreign laws and regulations in a timely manner and incomplete research on laws and regulations is the fundamental reason for the “unavailability” of products.

The inspection and quarantine department reminded that, in order to lay a solid foundation for product quality and respond to the technical barriers of developed countries with strong capital and skill, the above-mentioned enterprises exporting to the EU should carefully study the new regulations. Anything that is not included in the exemption list is normal. Or it may be reasonably foreseeable that it can be put in the mouth by children, and products containing lead or lead compounds with a lead content of 0.05% or more by weight will be banned. On the other hand, the relevant legislative departments should also use foreign standards and regulations as a reference to gradually improve the domestic legal system and raise the manufacturing threshold of products in order to fundamentally implement the "going out" strategy.