by ED DESMOND, executive vice president of Global Government & Regulatory Affairs, The Toy Association
One of The Toy Association’s chief goals is to protect and advance the business rights of our members, from the smallest manufacturers and specialty stores to midsize companies to some of the biggest toymakers, brands, and retailers in the world.
The Global Government & Regulatory Affairs team regularly engages in discussions with lawmakers, educational outreach, and coalition building. We directly intervene on a number of pending legislative issues and regulatory obstacles that have the potential to significantly impact the toy community while continuing to ensure the safety of toys and responsible manufacturing. These efforts take us to state houses across the country, to Capitol Hill, and to more than 40 nations worldwide.
As one example (among many more issues currently being tackled), our state team worked on an Extended Producer Responsibility program for batteries in California in order to simplify the process and reduce costs for members selling products in that state. The work we put in will ultimately exempt our members from having to pay into and participate in an additional e-waste program.
In September, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Responsible Battery Recycling Act of 2022, with AB 2440 and SB 1215 creating a statewide collection and recycling program for consumer batteries and products that contain batteries. Effective Jan. 1, 2023, the new law will require producers to establish a stewardship program for the collection and recycling of covered batteries and covered battery-embedded products.
“The work we put in will ultimately exempt our members from having to pay into and participate in an additional e-waste program.”
This is the best iteration of a battery program that we’ve seen in California to date, which is why The Toy Association state team committed to working on the bill to protect our members. In our meetings with the bills’ sponsors, we engaged in a collaborative process to split the current draft into two bills, with one (AB 2440) creating a battery stewardship program for loose batteries and the other (SB 1215) adding battery-embedded products to California’s existing e-waste program (which consumers, manufacturers, and retailers are already familiar with and is funded by a fee at the register).
Additionally, our proposed language, which was ultimately included in the final bill, made it clear that a branded battery that is separate/intended to be removed from a product is covered by the battery manufacturer if they are participating in the program and not the product manufacturer, thereby exempting many of our members from the program entirely.
This is but one example of the types of issues our team works on throughout the year — from packaging, ingredient disclosure, and material restrictions to children’s online privacy, intellectual property, and trade barriers. We welcome feedback from our members on the advocacy work we are doing and are here to guide individual companies on legislative, regulatory, and compliance challenges they are facing. We encourage all in the play community to subscribe to The Toy Association’s weekly e-newsletter, Toy News Tuesday, to receive regular updates about our efforts (visit toyassociation.org and scroll down to the subscription box). Companies may also reach out to The Toy Association’s Erin Raden (eraden@toyassociation.org) to be connected with a member of the Global Government & Regulatory Affairs team for assistance.
This article was originally published in the 2022 Innovation & STEM issue of The Toy Book. Click here to read the full issue! Want to receive The Toy Book in print? Click here for subscription options!
