Children’s Product & Toy Safety Regulations in Singapore: An Overview

Planning to import and sell toys or other children’s products in Singapore? In this guide, we explain what you must know about safety standards, product classifications, testing requirements, labeling, documentation, and more.

Mentioned Products

• Finger paints
• Baby cribs
• Children high chairs
• Baby’s walkers

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Consumer Protection (Consumer Goods Safety Requirements) Regulations

The Consumer Protection (Consumer Goods Safety Requirements) Regulations, or CGSR, regulates general consumer goods that are not covered by any other regulations or regulatory agencies in Singapore, which includes children’s products and toys.

The CGSR regulation aims at improving product safety and set requirements for different types of consumer products. Further, children’s products are also divided into two categories.

Children’s Products: Category 1

Category 1 goods refer to those consumer goods that are already covered by standards such as:

• International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) standards
• International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standards
• European standards (EN standards)
• ASTM International standards

Most of the children’s products fall into this category as there are a number of international standards (e.g. EN, ASTM or ISO) for a large range of children’s products including toys, which are defined as any product that is intended for play by a child of 14 years or less.

Children’s Products: Category 2

It’s possible that a certain children’s product is not covered by any international standard. In this case, it shall be classified as category 2 and need to comply with applicable regional or national safety standards in Singapore, if they exist.

More in general, importers shall verify if any applicable standards for their children’s products apply, and assess the safety of their products, contacting reputable testing companies such as SGS, TUV, or Intertek.

Safety Standards

Singaporean companies importing and selling children’s products can as explained, choose to follow certain international standards. More specifically, this is normally referring to:

• EN Standards (EU)
• ASTM Standards (USA)
• ISO Standards (International)

It would be rather pointless for Singapore to reinvent the wheel and develop its own standards for every single product out there. Another benefit is that EN, ASTM, and ISO standards are well known by manufacturers across Asia.

EN Standards for Children’s Products

• EN 71 (parts 1-14) – Safety requirements for toys
• EN 62115 – Safety of electric toys
• EN 13209 – Safety requirements for baby carriers
• EN 1273 – Safety requirements for baby walkers
• EN 14344 – Safety requirements for child seats for cycles
• EN 14988 – Safety requirements for children high chair

ASTM Standards for Children’s Products

• ASTM F963 – Standard consumer safety specification for toy safety
• ASTM F2050 – Standard consumer safety specification for hand-held infant carriers
• ASTM F977 – Standard consumer safety specification for infant walkers
• ASTM F1169 – Standard consumer safety specification for children cots/cribs
• ASTM F404 – Standard consumer safety specification for children high chairs

ISO/IEC standards for Children’s Products

• ISO 8124 – Toy safety standards
• IEC 62115 – Standard for electric toys
• ISO 7175 – Children’s cots and folding cots for domestic use
• ISO 9221 – Children’s high chair
• ISO 12312 – Children’s sunglasses

Singapore Standards for Toys

• SS 474 – Safety of toys (Part 1- 6)

Substance Restrictions

Enterprise Singapore sets additional substance regulations, covering certain chemicals and heavy metals, for toys and other children’s products. Here are a few examples:

• 0.1% by mass of Diethyl hexyl phthalate (DEHP)
• 0.1% by mass of Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)
• 0.1% by mass of Benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP)

Small Toys

Also, if a toy or part of a toy is smaller than 5 centimeters that can be placed in the mouth, the concentration of the following substances are regulated:

• 0.1% by mass of Diisononyl phthalate (DINP)
• 0.1% by mass of Diisodecyl phthalate (DIDP)
• 0.1% by mass of Di-n-octyl phthalate (DnOP)

Most toy manufacturers in China, and other countries, don’t have pre-existing lab test reports available for all materials. As an importer, it’s therefore essential to book third-party lab testing before importing and selling toys and other children’s products in Singapore.

Documentation

Even though CGSR doesn’t provide any specific guidelines about documentation such as test reports, certificates or others, as explained on the Enterprise Singapore Information Booklet, the authorities might request relevant test reports and other information that help them to determine that your imported goods comply with the general safety requirements at any time.

As said, it’s therefore critical to verify compliance before shipment – meaning that third-party lab testing is always crucial.

Labeling Requirements

The Information Booklet doesn’t specify any approval or specific requirement for children’s product labeling in Singapore.

However, the page dedicated to CGSR of the Enterprise Singapore official website specifies that suppliers, which include manufacturers and importers, shall aim at enhancing the safety of their products by providing warnings about potential risks and hazards.

Thus, as for the documentation, it’s advisable to add a label with any information you might find useful to improve the safety of your product, such as:

• Material content
• User instructions
• Warning labels
• Tracking labels

Also, the label shall be visibly and permanently affixed on the product or its packaging in the English language.

Lab Testing

There are many companies offering testing services covering toys and children’s products. However, first, you must determine which EN, ASTM, SS, or ISO standard apply to your product – as labs different in terms of testing capabilities.

Here are a few examples:

• QIMA
• Intertek
• SGS
• TUV
• Eurofins