The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a decline in toy recalls for the fiscal year 2016, according to the Toy Industry Association.
The continued decline in toy recalls has been credited to CPSC’s and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) ongoing cooperative work to detect and detain shipments of violative toys and children’s products at U.S. ports in order to create a safer marketplace for holiday shoppers. During the past four years, CPSC and CBP stopped more than 8 million units of about 4,500 different types of toys and children’s products due to safety hazards or the failure to meet federal safety standards. Shipments stopped by the agencies have included lead, small parts, sharp points, and labeling requirement violations. In addition to inspections at U.S. ports, CPSC also enforces strong safety standards and trains manufacturers at home and overseas about safety requirements.
Additionally, CPSC has released its annual report on toy-related incidents for calendar year 2015, showing an estimated 185,500 toy-related injuries and 11 toy-related deaths for children younger than 15 years old. The CPSC provides the following context for considering the data: “It is important to note that although a toy was associated with many of the incidents, the toy was not necessarily the cause of the death or injury;” for instance, nearly half the deaths were due to motor vehicles colliding with ride-on toys.
