Towards a Framework for Establishing Children’s Toys Safety Policy in ASEAN

The use of toys over decades has become more extrinsic and has extended from a mere play thing to a tool used for educational development including vulnerable categories of children with special needs. The increase in demand has also brings with it an alarming number of incidents and accidents connected with children’s toy products worldwide particularly within European Union and United States, which largely imports the said products from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). To make matters worse, there is an absence of comprehensive children’s toys safety legislations within several ASEAN Member States. Therefore, there is an urgent call for the establishment of Children’s Toys Safety Policy in ASEAN in order to enhance the safety of children’s toys and facilitate trade. Hence, for the purpose of proposing components of Children’s Toys Safety Policy in ASEAN, this qualitative research utilised data from European Union Toy Safety Directives (Directive 2009/48/EC), New Zealand ISO 10377:2017, ASEAN Food Safety Policy and ASEAN Good Regulatory Practice in light of potential harmonisation mechanisms. The finding shows that there are four (4) principles suggested in the proposed Policy, which are promoting toy safety culture; toy safety commitment and responsibility; systematic toy safety framework; and responsibility of ASEAN Member States.