Filenews 23 February 2026 - by Vassos Vassiliou
The withdrawals of plastic children's toys and other items that do not comply with the legislation regarding their chemical content, which exceed the set limits, are of great concern, considering that in the period 2020-2025, up to one in three of those tested were found to contain more chemicals than allowed.
Specifically, regarding plastic toys containing phthalates, in 2020 29.3% (of toys) were withdrawn, in 2021 22.2%, in 2022 31.5%, in 2023 14.6%, in 2024 24.2% and in 2025 33.3%.
In general, regarding objects (and not only plastic toys) that contained flash esters and were withdrawn, in 2020 there is no data, in 2021 they reached 50%, in 2022 37.5%, in 2023 20%, in 2024 30% and in 2025 8.3%.
The relevant data were presented by the Minister of Labour and Social Insurance, Mr. Marinos Mousiouttas, in response to a question by the MP Mr. Charalambos Theopemtou. It clarifies that what is being done is withdrawals of products, either for improvement (compliance) or for the destruction of non-compliant products.
Specifically:
• In cases where corrective actions can be taken for the conformity of the products (e.g. improvement of labelling), then the Technical Chamber of Greece proceeds, in accordance with the legislation, to the service of a "Notice of Conformity" with a temporary commitment of the products, giving a specific time limit for the company to take the necessary corrective actions to remove the violation. Once the infringement has been lifted, the compliant products can be re-marketed.
• In cases where corrective actions cannot be taken for product compliance (e.g. in cases where the product contains a chemical substance for which there are prohibitions/restrictions), the Technical Chamber of Greece proceeds to the service of a "Notice of Withdrawal" with a count of non-compliant products and follows their destruction by the person in charge of placing on the market, in the presence of the competent Inspector of the Technical Chamber of Greece.
• Regarding the withdrawals of the last 5 years, these mainly concern products/articles that were found to contain chemical substances for which there is a prohibition/restriction of their use (Restrictions of Annex XVII of Regulation No. 1907/2006 (REACH Regulation).
