The Jan 10 FT explains that the chair of the large toy company, Hasbro, is calling for global regulatory standards for toys:
The US, EU and other jurisdictions enforce unique safety regimes that can force toy companies and their suppliers, most of whom are based in China, to adopt different testing and even manufacturing procedures for each destination market. Standards can vary between states within the US.
“Why can’t we have one mandatory global safety standard for toys?” Alan Hassenfeld, chairman of the US-based Hasbro toy company, said on Thursday in an interview with the Financial Times. “If we had one standard for the entire world everyone would cheer because we’re so confused [by the competing standards] and it’s a huge cost.”
While this seems utterly reasonable, one wonders whether global standards would give Hasbro a competitive advantage over more local toymakers. Also, presumably larger companies from wealthier countries would dominate the standard-setting process, and might set standards that benefit their positions.
Nevertheless, it is hard to argue for a right to regulate less in this field, and presumably the global standard would be a minimum, not a maximum.
