Importing to the EU from China via the UK

[shpalman]

70,000 knockoff plastic toys arrived from the UK and we destroyed them because they were sh.tty Chinese tat with missing or false CE marks.

But well done on taking back all that control, you're now free to import that crap as long as you keep it to yourself.

[plodder]

70,000 knockoff plastic toys arrived from the UK and we destroyed them because they were sh.tty Chinese tat with missing or false CE marks.

But well done on taking back all that control, you're now free to import that crap as long as you keep it to yourself.

How many shipping containers was that? For context, like.

[dyqik]

70,000 knockoff plastic toys arrived from the UK and we destroyed them because they were sh.tty Chinese tat with missing or false CE marks.

But well done on taking back all that control, you're now free to import that crap as long as you keep it to yourself.

How many shipping containers was that? For context, like.

From the Google Translate, the toys were replica superhero figures in plastic, so probably more than 10 per cubic foot. A 40ft shipping container holds 2400 cubic feet.

I'm going to guess one to two shipping containers.

The Google Translate also says that the CE marks were present, but covered up by stickers.

Google Translate if someone wants to tell me how terrible this is and whether it's misleading.

The individual pieces were contained in small plastic bags in which both the CE mark and the pictogram, which does not recommend the use of the game for children under 36 months, were completely covered by adhesive labels with the distributor's logo, making made it impossible to provide complete information to the consumer. The safety documentation submitted by the importer, which was found to be insufficient and not attributable to the toy manufacturer, is also not compliant with the legislation.

[shpalman]

The translation looks OK.

[Bird on a Fire]

I can't imagine many Brexiters caring too much about that, to be honest.

Quite a lot of red tape and nerdy rules just for some plastic toys.

Let's bring back the "better drowned than duffers" approach to children's safety.

[sheldrake]

I can't imagine many reasonable people caring about it, full stop.

TBH this makes EU customs sound nutty and unreasonable to me.

[veravista]

Fancy the wierdo EU customs people caring if insignificant plastic toys are made from, or painted with something toxic. f.cking nanny state.

[Millennie Al]

Fancy the wierdo EU customs people caring if insignificant plastic toys are made from, or painted with something toxic. f.cking nanny state.

However, the article does not say that they were made from an unsuitable material or were in any way toxic. The alleged fault was purely one of paperwork.

[veravista]

The paperwork trail that, if properly followed would prove that they were safe - that is the whole point of standards marking. Even if they were initially shipped into the UK from China it is still the responsibility of the importer to comply.

[bjn]

Yeahbut, that paper work is the formal guarantee that you are adhering to standards. If they can’t get that right, why should the H&S folk be obliged to carry out tests to show the toys are safe? Do you want the Italian tax paper to cough up for the importer’s f.ck up? Also, the packaging was demonstrably faulty, which may have led to the toys inappropriately being given to small children.

Damnit, ninja’d.

[bob sterman]

...they were sh.tty Chinese tat with missing or false CE marks.

I think it's time we moved to just calling stuff like this sh"tty tat.

China can make iPhones or sh*tty plastic figures - it all depends what we in the west order and are prepared to pay.

[nekomatic]

^ this

[sheldrake]

Fancy the wierdo EU customs people caring if insignificant plastic toys are made from, or painted with something toxic. f.cking nanny state.

All the report said was that the sticky labels obscured some documentation. This is peak jobsworthery in the guise of elf'n'safety nonsense.

[veravista]

Rare reply to you Shelly and you're still talking out if your arse. Just 'misplaced' labels? Are you sure? The Italian customs were suspicious and rightly so. Are you happy to allow any standards marking to be misplace, misspelled or just missing? It may seem trivial to you but if you've ever worked in standards or compliance these things matter

[bjn]

Still can’t do the reading or the facts thing can you Shelly. The required documentation was also wrong, also the packaging obscured a safety notice. The importer f.cked up, do you want the Italian tax payer to pay for checking that the toys are actually safe and to fix the packaging?

Ulteriormente non conforme alla normativa anche la documentazione di sicurezza present at a dall’importatore, risultata insufficiente e non attribuibile al fabbricante dei giocattoli.

Dammit, ninjad again.

[sheldrake]

Still can’t do the reading or the facts thing can you Shelly. The required documentation was also wrong

This is documentation written by the supplier. It doesn't make anything safer. You can have immaculate documentation that's filled in falsely for a dangerous or faulty product (re: VW cars)

also the packaging obscured a safety notice. The importer f.cked up, do you want the Italian tax payer to pay for checking that the toys are actually safe and to fix the packaging?

Do you really think destroying 70,000 toys was cheaper than a phone call to the supplier, or the Italian business the toys were bound for? This is safety theatre and jobsworthery at it's dimmest and celebrating it is not a good look. Ninja. Yeah.

[individualmember]

A few years ago I worked on a tv show called ‘How Safe Are Your Christmas Toys’, working title ‘Toys That Kill’.

I was horrified by how trading standards were given the runaround by people bringing in dodgy tat with false CE marks. CE marking is basically self-certification, testing might be done but not necessarily, and I still don’t think people in general know that.