The Civil Guard has intervened in several warehouses in the town of Manises (Valencia) a total of 10,696 toys, most of them for non-compliance with safety regulations, although also others that were counterfeit products. In the operation there are two people investigated for an alleged crime against industrial property.
The Civil Guard agents, within the framework of the Christmas campaign, have carried out seven searches in various businesses in this town, in which they have seized more than 10,000 toys with an approximate value of 5,000 euros.
The toys lacked the ‘CE’ marking, a hallmark of the European Community – which must appear throughout this economic area and which certifies compliance with the regulatory requirements of trade in this area, among others safety requirements -. In fact, in some of them these same acronyms appeared, but referring to ‘China Export’ and not to the European Community.
The difference in marking is mainly the spacing of the letters ‘CE’, as the ‘China Export’ symbol brings the letters closer together, but reduces the space between them compared to that of ‘European Community’.
The main infractions that have been detected are related to the safety and manufacturing of toys. Specifically, irregularities have been detected in the labeling of toys and packaging, most of them due to not meeting requirements such as being in Spanish or lacking data on the importer, distributor or manufacturer. Others are related to the instructions for the toys, either because they do not have them or because they are not in Spanish.
The Civil Guard has recalled that those responsible for the safety of toys in the European Union are the manufacturers, importers and distributors who put these products on the market.
The operation has been carried out by members of the Civil Guard belonging to the Fiscal and Border Patrols of Valencia. In the operation, a total of 14 complaints have been filed for violations of Royal Decree 1205/2011 on safety in toys and another four of Law 28/2005 on health measures against smoking, for the sale of vapers in an unauthorized place.
First Corporal of the Civil Guard Juan Fernández de la Fuente explained to the media this Tuesday that the toys have been seized after carrying out several inspections in wholesale warehouses, after detecting falsifications for crimes against industrial property in two warehouses and other irregularities. in toy safety regulations.
Specifically, he detailed that in this last case some of the objects seized lacked safety warnings, such as products used in their manufacture in cases of makeup toys.
The head of the armed institute has indicated that this type of inspections are intensified in the face of the Christmas campaign, partly due to the “large” amount of toy imports, and especially in wholesale warehouses, from which they are distributed in warehouses. retail and shops.
