Market Surveillance of Toys: Situation Assessment and Improvement

Uniform requirements have been established in the EU to ensure that safe toys are placed on the market. These requirements are monitored, simultaneously carrying out market surveillance. Despite the measures, which are organized and implemented, every year non-compliant toys are discovered on the market, which puts the most vulnerable part of society – children. The study identified the causes of non-compliant toys appearing on the market, analyzed the current situation of the market surveillance in the EU and Latvia, and made a practical study of non-compliant toys available on the market and public awareness; on the basis of which proposals for the improvement of the situation at different levels were prepared. The aim of the article is to present proposals for the improvement of market surveillance, based on the assessment of the situation in the toy market surveillance. In the study, the authors used qualitative and quantitative research methods, and comparative analysis.