Protecting Your Business Is Our Busines

From impactful advocacy and legislative victories on Capitol Hill to year-round engagement with key federal agencies and serving as your voice with regulators around the world, The Toy Association’s global government and regulatory affairs team prioritizes your business interests and stands ready as a go-to resource when your company is in need. Here’s a snapshot of just some of the issues we are working on, on behalf of our members and the broader toy and play community.

As a leader in toy safety, The Toy Association collaborated on the latest revisions to the world-renowned ASTM F963 toy safety standards and continues its work with the F963 committee to ensure that the standard remains current with product developments and any safety issues that emerge. Future items up for discussion include aquatic toys, battery accessibility requirements for toys, ride-on toys that resemble all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and super-absorbent polymer “gel” bead toys. Our team has also scaled up its involvement in the International Standards Organisation (ISO) technical committee 181, holding convenor positions for working groups covering mechanical and physical properties, age determination guidelines, interpretations, and microbiological safety.

Beyond U.S. borders, we are tackling issues in more than 30 countries and territories around the world, including the UK, the European Union, Chile, the Gulf States (including UAE and Saudi Arabia), India, and several other nations important to our industry and companies expanding their sales footprint. Most recently, The Toy Association participated in meetings in Brussels, Belgium, where we shared perspectives at the European Parliament on children's privacy protection and encouraged greater harmonization of international standards. As Secretariat to the International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI), we led a three-day meeting of 20 national toy associations, which covered topics including fighting counterfeit products in the e-commerce space, standards harmonization, and environmental sustainability. We also continue to serve as the sustaining partner to the Canadian Toy Association and collaborate with our colleagues at Asociación Mexicana de la Industria del Juguete.

Across Washington, D.C., The Toy Association has been a vocal advocate for a range of issues, such as addressing how companies may be impacted by the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) “Green Guides,” which are currently under review by the agency and could affect how toys are labeled and marketed as environmentally friendly. We also continue to work with the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to ensure new battery safety regulations for non-toy household items under Reese’s Law align with ASTM F963, the gold standard for battery safety in toys. 

In regard to intellectual property (IP) protection, the Association remains steadfast in fighting counterfeit and violative products on behalf of the industry by proactively working with congressional offices, educating lawmakers and staff on The Toy Association’s IP white papers, and educating the public on the responsible toy businesses that adhere to the more than 100 safety standards required by federal law. This follows the successful coalition work we participated in to secure passage of the INFORM Consumers Act. Our most recent efforts addressed members’ priorities with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding anti-counterfeiting strategies and we continue to press congressional leaders for the reintroduction of the SHOP SAFE Act, a bill that emphasizes the need for online platforms to meet the same requirements and liabilities as traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. 

Across the U.S., our state team works tirelessly to combat and amend priority issues. To date in 2023, we have specifically pushed back on more than 400 pieces of legislation directly impacting the industry and closely monitored more than 1,000 pieces of legislation throughout the country that might tangentially affect our industry or the supply chain. Our advocacy efforts were directly responsible for the Pennsylvania legislature introducing a bill to amend the outdated 1961 Stuffed Toy Manufacturing Act. The amended law will now allow for the use of recycled materials in stuffed toys distributed and sold within the state. 

These efforts barely scratch the surface of our aggressive work to fight and advocate on behalf of the industry. We encourage you to take advantage of our team as a resource for your business, whether you are fighting a specific challenge or simply looking for guidance on a new regulation. Our many varied government affairs committees are open to all active members and provide invaluable reconnaissance. Please reach out to me if you’d like to join. The more company involvement we have, the greater the impact we can make, together.

In sum, we are here for you, no matter how large or small your issue. Please, put us to work.