On March 9, 2017, the Public Defender addressed the Government of Georgia with a recommendation to take measures to ensure safety of toys on the Georgian market and protect the health of minors.

The Public Defender was informed that the NGO - Centre for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia purchased dolls of ten different brands at Georgian shops and sent them to Germany to check their safety in an accredited laboratory. According to the results received from Germany, a large amount of harmful substance was found in nine out of the ten dolls.

Unfortunately, it is planned to bring the Georgian legislation closer to the new EU Toy Safety Directive only in 2019. The Public Defender considers that, given the results of the examination carried out by the Centre for Strategic Research and Development, it is necessary the Government to take effective measures immediately and implement the EU Toy Safety Directive until September 1, 2019, in order to protect the best interests, health and safety of minors.

It should be noted that the international legal acts and the national legislation impose positive and negative obligations on the state to take effective measures in order to protect the health and life of minors, which may be endangered by the lack of control.

The Public Defender addressed the Government with a recommendation to respond to the results of the examination carried out by the Centre for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia, to plan measures for regulation of legislative and institutional frameworks under the Toy Safety Directive obligations before 2019 and to take effective steps for supervising the market in order to protect the minors’ rights to life and health.