Toy story: Brexit import headache for Irish wholesalers

The safety legislation requires an importer to indicate their name, registered trade name or registered trade mark, and the address at which they can be contacted, on the toy or, where that is not possible, on its packaging or in a document accompanying the toy.

A UK address will no longer suffice and this has raised concern that it may not be viable for some smaller distributors to continue to import toys, said a source. The change would lead to “commercial, conformity, documentation, insurance and indemnification considerations,” said the source.

CE marks are a standard requirement for a range of items sold in the EU, including toys, electrical equipment, PPE and sunglasses. Any item that has such a mark may now potentially be subject to the new requirements.

Some in the industry fear that for many smaller wholesalers the implications of becoming an “EU importer” rather than just part of the distribution chain may cause difficulty for some.

“This is a complex, technical problem, which will not easily go away, and resolution will ultimately come at a cost to the consumer.

“It has implications not only for toy importers, but for the import of all electrical goods manufactured for use in the “Type G” voltage zone for Ireland and the UK,” said ISME chief executive Neil McDonnell, who represents many of the wholesalers involved.

“While some importers may be tempted to ignore the statutory requirements, this is an issue fraught with liability for those importers. Resolution of this issue will require that an Irish business agrees to become the importer for these products, or that Irish buyers source the products from an importer and distributor elsewhere in the EU, or that the traditional UK distributors set up a distribution entity in Ireland. None of these solutions will be immediate,” he said.

But not everyone agrees with the interpretation of the rules and Irish wholesalers have continued to import toys and other CE-marked goods with no change.

One Irish toy distributor who contacted their UK wholesaler was told that they did not see any need for any change. The UK wholesaler said that their packaging fully complied with all of the relevant legislation and regulations.

“None of our other Irish customers have raised any queries since Brexit so I think this is a misunderstanding,” said the UK wholesaler in response to the query.

But the Irish importer remains concerned: “My biggest concern is I follow the regulations, my competitors ignore them. There is no enforcement so my business suffers in the marketplace,” he said.