The CE mark on a toy is the maker's own promise, not a safety test

The British Toy and Hobby Association bought 89 toys from third-party sellers through seven online marketplaces and sent them to a certified laboratory for independent testing against UK toy safety standards.¹ Of the toys that proved unsafe, 65% showed a CE mark, a UKCA mark or both: the small logos that are meant to show a toy meets the legal requirements.^1,2

Which? explains that "a UKCA or CE mark shows that the manufacturer of the toy has verified that it meets the legal requirements" of Britain's or the EU's toy rules.² So the mark is the maker's own statement that its toy meets the rules, not a stamp from an outside lab.

That does not make every marked toy unsafe; it means the logo alone can't tell you which ones are. YAN's view: we choose toys by who made and sold them and treat the CE or UKCA mark as the bare minimum, because a promise nobody outside the company has checked is not yet evidence that a toy is safe.

What the mark actually means

A guide to the rules for toy makers clears up a common mistake: "It is often assumed that a third party testing organisation must be used to assess a toy against the harmonised standards. This is not the case."³ Harmonised standards here simply means the official European safety standards for toys, the ones listed in the EU's Official Journal.⁴

An outside test does come in sometimes: a maker can choose third party verification for a toy, and the market surveillance authority, the inspectors who police products on sale, may in some cases require one at the maker's own expense.^4,5 All of that happens in paperwork and inspections a shopper never sees.

Why consumer groups say the mark misleads

By one count in 2012, there had been 250 notifications of unsafe toys so far that year, and most of those toys bore CE Marking.⁶

ANEC, a group that wants the CE marking moved into the maker's technical file or digital product passport, says the mark misleads consumers because it is "often perceived as a safety or quality mark", and that seeing it everywhere gives it "undue credibility".⁷ That is the heart of it: a logo seen on almost every box starts to look like an approval, so shoppers trust it more than it deserves.

Official advice still leans the other way: when EU authorities reported their own toy tests last year, they advised families to buy only products with the CE mark, "which is a guarantee that they have been assessed" against EU requirements.⁸ Both readings hold part of the truth: a CE mark means the maker has verified that its toy meets the rules, but when the maker follows the official safety standards, that check does not require the involvement of any independent testing body.^2,3,4

What the tests found

Ten of the association's samples were seemingly identical to toys that had already been recalled or listed on the UK Product Safety Database.¹ In its previous investigation, the association found toys with both CE and UKCA marks on the packaging despite failing to meet the requirements.⁹ Kerri Atherton, the association's head of public affairs, said then: "It is concerning to still see high levels of unsafe toys available despite many years reporting failures and the online marketplaces publishing they are acting on the findings."⁹

Which? found the same in its own test of marketplace toys: several that failed its safety tests displayed CE or UKCA marks, and it said the marks "would seem to be suspect".² Which? has also said it has seen many unsafe products carrying what it believes to be fake CE markings.¹⁰

The makers' own European trade body, Toy Industries of Europe, says most toy alerts concern rogue traders, and that "The high number of toy alerts does not mean toys are more dangerous than other products."¹¹ Its director general, Catherine Van Reeth, puts the problem at the door of online sellers: "it is alarming to see how easily sellers of non-compliant and dangerous toys can reach European consumers through online platforms without any consequences."¹¹ The makers have an interest in pointing at others, so it matters that the EU's own test, which compared where toys were bought, points the same way. In that check, only 5 of the 62 toys bought online passed, against 10 of the 27 bought in physical stores.^8,12

The tests have limits: the EU's activity toys were selected due to existing concerns about their compliance, and the BTHA says its toys would have to comply with a much larger number of standards to show full compliance.^1,8 So these tests cannot tell us how often CE-marked toys from ordinary shops fail. A large test of toys bought from ordinary shops, or a rule that everyday toys must be tested independently before sale, would change how much weight we give the mark.

What the new EU rules change

The EU has adopted a new Toy Safety Regulation, published in December 2025, which will apply from 1 August 2030 and replace the current directive.¹³ Today's paperwork, the declaration of conformity (a signed statement that the toy meets the rules), will be replaced by a digital product passport, a digital record that must correspond to a specific toy model.¹³

The passport takes the place of the maker's old declaration of conformity, and it is still the manufacturer who creates the digital product passport for its own toy and takes responsibility for its compliance.^13,14 So, like the CE mark, the passport is the maker's own word about its toy. Even the toy makers' trade body has warned: "A good product passport does not mean a toy is safe and if toys can be faked, so can product passports."¹⁵

How to choose toys you can trust

Rocio Concha of Which? summed up its marketplace test: "It was frighteningly easy for Which? to find dangerous toys for sale on some of the world’s most popular online marketplaces".² The worse buy is a CE-marked toy from an unknown third-party seller on a marketplace. In one Which? test of 28 toys bought on online marketplaces, 12 failed safety tests and would be dangerous for children to play with.¹⁰ Which? also reported that 12 toys which failed its safety tests carried a CE or UKCA mark.² At YAN we would rather pay a little more at a shop that takes returns, because a mark costs nothing to print, while a shop has something to lose if it sells an unsafe toy.

So where you buy matters: in the EU's activity toy check last year, toys from physical shops passed far more often than toys purchased online.¹² A shop is no guarantee, since most shop-bought toys in that check failed too, but the odds were far better.

• Buy from a shop you could take the toy back to, in person or online, that names the maker on the box or product page.
• On a marketplace, check who the seller actually is before you add to basket; if it is an unknown third-party seller shipping from abroad, skip it, however good the price.
• Skip any toy with no CE or UKCA mark, or with no maker's name and address on the box or listing.
• Be wary of a cheap copy of a popular toy, and search a toy's name with the word "recall" before you buy one you're unsure about.
• If one question to an online seller would settle it, ask: "Who is the manufacturer, and what is their UK or EU address?"

There's no need to clear out the toy box. Give any marketplace toy a quick look: pull gently on eyes and small parts, check that magnets are sealed in and battery covers are screwed shut, and look for cords or ribbons long enough to wrap around a neck. If a toy fails that check, or loose magnets or button batteries could come out of it, take it away from young children and throw it out.

Next time you shop for a toy online, look at the seller's name before the price: it is the quickest check you can make.