Beware of the toys you buy your children, the Guardia di Finanza has just confiscated 2 million!

The Guardia di Finanza carried out a mega seizure of dangerous or counterfeit toys. Here's how to defend ourselves and buy safe games

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The Guardia di Finanza carried out a maxi seizure of toys that are dangerous to health and / or counterfeit for children. It involves over 2 million pieces for a value of approximately 6 million euros.

The kidnapping announced yesterday by the Guardia di Finanza involved toys of all kinds: dolls of well-known characters, cars and various vehicles, board games and more, all objects that would have ended up in the hands of the little ones, putting their health at risk.

In fact, these were dangerous games that did not comply with safety standards and did not correctly report useful information to consumers on the packaging. What was the real risk of using them? Exposure to toxic substances, suffocation by ingestion of small parts that come off but also damage to children's hearing, in the case of sound toys that exceeded the decibel limit allowed.

The seizure is part of the international operation called “Ludus”, born from the collaboration between Europol, the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). The purpose of this international cooperation initiative is precisely to combat the marketing of unsafe or counterfeit toys.

The kidnapping was actually more extensive and involved 24 states, mainly in Europe. This, conducted between October 2020 and the end of January 2021, led to the recall of around 5 million toys (their total value of 16 million euros), leading to the arrest of 11 people and the opening of more than 100 proceedings. penalties.

A very large operation, therefore, which took a long time but which also allowed in some cases to rebuild the entire toy supply chain and vanquish the criminal networks at the basis of the counterfeiting of games.

This new seizure rekindles attention to the presence in the market of unsafe toys for our children. How can we defend ourselves?

How to choose safe toys

When buying a toy it is good to pay attention to a number of things: first of all, evaluate the presence of certifications.

In addition to the essential CE mark, affixed by the manufacturer himself, which declares that the product complies with EU regulations, we can also choose toys with additional certifications that represent an extra guarantee.

For example, there are the Ecocert, OEKO-TEX® certifications (independent control and certification system), GS and Spiel Gut (which certify the absence of toxic substances).

The choice of the materials, better to prefer natural ones such as wood rather than plastic and not only for a possible exposure of children to toxic substances or endocrine disruptors but also for an environmental issue.

Finally, let us always remember to consider the age: for example, we do not buy toys for adults if we have to give them to children in the 0-3 age group. In this case, in fact, they could contain small parts that risk swallowing or in any case not suitable for being put in the mouth or bitten.

Finally, let's not forget a very important rule: “Less is more”. We don't have to fill our children with games, we prioritize quality over quantity.

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