GPSR for Toys: The Strictest Category Explained

Toys carry the heaviest compliance load of any product you can sell into the EU. The reason is simple: children use them, and the failure modes are ugly. As one compliance team puts it, toys face "choking hazards, toxic substances, sharp edges, and misuse injuries." That risk profile is why toys sit under two separate bodies of law at once, and why getting the paperwork wrong can mean a recall instead of a warning.

If you sell toys, you don't choose between the Toy Safety Directive and GPSR. You comply with both. This guide explains how the two layers fit together, what EN 71 testing covers, when the under-36-months warning is mandatory, and where the General Product Safety Regulation (EU 2023/988) adds duties the Toy Safety Directive never had.

What counts as a toy

The Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC defines a toy as "any product designed or intended (even if not exclusively) for play by children under 14 years old." That "even if not exclusively" clause catches more than you'd expect. A plush keychain marketed to adults can still be a toy if a child would plausibly play with it. Decorative items, collectibles, and novelty gifts often fall in scope when the design invites play.

If your product clears that bar, CE marking is not optional. Neither is the safety assessment behind it. There is no handmade exemption, no small-batch exemption, and no "it's just wood" exemption. A carved wooden rattle is held to the same standard as a mass-produced plastic one.

Layer one: the Toy Safety Directive and EN 71

CE marking on a toy is the visible end of a real assessment. Before you affix the mark, you complete a toy safety assessment, build technical documentation, and issue an EU Declaration of Conformity. As the regulatory summary goes: most toys "must carry CE marking under the Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC and complete a toy safety assessment, keep technical documentation, affix CE marking and provide an EU Declaration of Conformity accordingly."

The technical backbone of that assessment is the EN 71 series of harmonised standards:

• EN 71-1 covers mechanical and physical properties. This is where small parts, sharp edges, and choking hazards are defined and tested.
• EN 71-2 covers flammability.
• EN 71-3 covers the migration of certain elements, meaning the heavy metals that can leach out of a toy when a child handles or mouths it.
• EN 71-4 covers chemistry sets and similar experimental kits.

Testing to these standards produces the test reports that prove your toy is safe. For most toys you can self-certify on the strength of EN 71 testing and your Declaration of Conformity. A few categories force a different route. Chemical toys and some electrical toys are treated as complex, and a notified body has to be involved in the assessment before you can claim conformity.

The under-36-months warning

The single most-missed requirement for toys is the small-parts rule, and it hinges on age grading.

A small part has a precise definition. It is "a component that fits inside a small parts testing cylinder (as described in EN 71-1) that has a height of 57.1 mm and a diameter of 31.7 mm." If a piece, or a piece that can break off, fits inside that cylinder, it is a small part and it is a choking risk.

The rule splits at three years old:

• Under 36 months. Small parts are banned in most toys intended for this age group. Certain categories, such as rattles and soother holders, cannot contain small parts at all, full stop.
• 36 months and over. Toys that do contain small parts are allowed, but they must carry a warning. The text reads "Not suitable for children under 36 months," or you use the equivalent warning pictogram (the crossed-out child's face inside a circle).

The directive is explicit: toys "not meant to be used by children aged under 36 months and that might pose a danger to them must bear a small parts warning statement or a warning graphic symbol." Your age grading and your warnings have to match the actual hazards in the product. Reviewers and market surveillance authorities look for exactly that coherence.

Layer two: what GPSR adds on top

Here is the part sellers miss. GPSR does not replace the Toy Safety Directive. It runs alongside it. The clearest framing comes from an e-commerce compliance source: the GPSR "adds requirements for labeling, traceability, post-market surveillance, and an EU Responsible Person." Or, more bluntly for sellers: "Toy Safety Directive remains primary for CE and age warnings. GPSR adds Responsible Person and Amazon listing transparency."

So even a fully CE-marked, EN 71-tested toy is not done. GPSR layers on four things.

An EU Responsible Person. Every toy sold into the EU needs a designated economic operator established in the Union who can be reached by authorities and who holds access to your technical documentation. This applies even if your manufacturer is already in the EU. You still need someone named and contactable. EUProof does not act as your Responsible Person, and you should be wary of any document generator that claims to. We generate the compliance documents that your Responsible Person needs to do their job. For how that role works, see our guide to the GPSR Responsible Person.

Traceability. GPSR expects batch or serial numbers so a specific run of toys can be identified and, if needed, pulled. This feeds your labeling obligations: manufacturer name and address, importer or Responsible Person details, and a model or batch identifier on the product or its packaging.

Post-market surveillance. You don't get to file the paperwork and forget it. You monitor your product in the field. If a serious risk or accident occurs, the instruction is direct: "notify without undue delay via the Safety Business Gateway." That reporting channel is a GPSR mechanism, not a Toy Safety Directive one.

Marketplace listing transparency. Amazon and Etsy now enforce GPSR data fields on toy listings: Responsible Person details, warnings, and safety information visible to the buyer before purchase. If those fields are blank, your listing can be suppressed regardless of how good your physical product is.

The risk analysis ties it together

Both layers depend on the same foundation: a documented risk assessment. One reviewer describes what a credible toy file looks like. They "look for a coherent safety story supported by a documented risk analysis. For toys this usually means: secure assemblies that don't create small parts, correct age grading and warnings that match hazards, migration results to EN 71-3, and for electric toys, thermal/abnormal use evidence."

Read that list again, because it is your checklist. Assemblies that won't shed a small part. Age grading that matches the warnings. EN 71-3 migration data for heavy metals. Thermal evidence for anything electric. Your technical documentation pulls all of it into one file, and you keep that file for ten years after the product goes on the market.

What this means for handmade and small sellers

The hardest message for handmade toy makers is that craft does not lower the bar. A handmade wooden train still needs EN 71 testing, CE marking, a Declaration of Conformity, technical documentation, and a Responsible Person. The volume is smaller; the obligations are identical. If you sell handmade toys on a marketplace, our Etsy GPSR guide covers the listing-field side, and the handmade GPSR guide covers the documentation side.

Used and second-hand toys are in scope too. GPSR covers used, repaired, and reconditioned products. A business reselling refurbished toys carries the duties. The narrow carve-out is genuine private sales between individuals, not a shop trading under a personal account.

Where to start

Sort your obligations in this order:

1. Confirm the product is a toy under the under-14 definition. If unsure, run our am I affected check.
2. Get EN 71 testing done and decide whether your toy needs a notified body.
3. Build the technical file: risk analysis, test reports, product description.
4. Set age grading and apply the correct warnings and pictograms.
5. Appoint your EU Responsible Person and add their details to your labels and listings.

The Toy Safety Directive side, the testing and CE marking, is physical work no software can do for you. The GPSR document side, the Declaration of Conformity, the labeling pack, and the technical file structure, is exactly what EUProof builds in minutes. See the pillar guide to GPSR for the full picture, then generate your documents once your testing is in hand.

This article is general guidance, not legal advice. Confirm your obligations with a qualified advisor or your Responsible Person.