New Elements Added to Japan Toy Association Safety Standard ST 2016

The new toy safety standard ST 2016 contains a substantial number of new elements regarding mechanical and physical properties. It will be effective starting April 1, 2016.

Japan Toy Safety Standard’s Mark Program

In 1971, the Japan Toy Association (JTA), a public interest entity approved by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, established the Japan Safety Toy Mark Program (ST Mark) [1] to ensure the safety of toys for children 14 years of age and under.  The ST Mark is based on three toy safety standards:

- ST Part 1 – Mechanical and physical properties
- ST Part 2 – Flammability
- ST Part 3 – Chemical properties

In 2012, each of ST Parts 1 to 3 was combined to create the new Toy Safety Standard ST 2012.

Toy Safety Regulations Undergo Revisions

On February 1, 2016, the JTA published the new toy safety standard ST 2016 [2]. This new standard is now available on a commercial basis at the JTA website [3]. Part 1 of this new standard has a number of important changes including:

- Clarifying that projectiles do not include self-propelled flying toys such as remote control helicopters and wind-up airplanes with certain exceptions
- New definitions for free flights, arrows and leading edges
- New requirements for certain squeeze toys, rattles, fasteners and other toys and toy components
- Special considerations and design guidelines for bath toy projections
- New requirements for projectile toys, including mouth-actuated projectile toys, projectiles in the form of a dart, and arrows
- New methods for projectiles with a suction cup, determination of projectile range (maximum distance travelled by projectile from the point of discharge while in the air), tip assessment of rigid projectiles and the length of suction cup projectiles

Changes Correspond to ISO 8124

Part 2 of this new standard is identical to ISO 8124-2:2014 whereas Part 3 remains identical to ST 2012.

The new toy safety standard ST 2016 will be effective starting April 1, 2016. The existing 5th edition of ST 2012 remains valid until 31 March, 2018. During this transitional period, both sets of standards are accepted for the ST Certification Mark (Table 1 below) [4].

Table 1: Japan Toy Safety Standard
Standard: ST 2012 (5th Edition)
Effective Date: In force
(Valid for ST Mark until March 31, 2018)

Standard: ST 2016
Effective Date:  April 1, 2016

References:

[1] ST Mark (http://www.toys.or.jp/pdf/jta_business_info_english.pdf)

[2] Toy safety standard ST 2016 (http://www.toys.or.jp/st/index.html)

[3] JTA website (http://www.toys.or.jp/st/pdf/2016/st_kijyun2016_20160201.pdf)

[4] ST Certification Mark (http://www.toys.or.jp/st/pdf/2016/st_kijyun_kaitei_20160128.pdf)

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