RELEASE: New report: Loophole allows unsafe toys from overseas to flood market

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, November 19, 2024

LOS ANGELES – Scrolling online, you see a brightly colored, wooden-peg-sorting toy for toddlers. It looks fun and educational, and it’s only $4.04 with free shipping. What you may not notice: The listing does not name the manufacturer. Someone will ship the toy directly from overseas. And the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued violation notices about numerous similar wooden toddler toys from overseas because they don’t comply with U.S. safety requirements. Does this toy contain lead or other toxics? Could small parts break off and choke a child? Was it even tested?

“When you pull back the curtain, it’s terrifying,” said Fiona Hines, advocate at CALPIRG Education Fund, the organization releasing the 39th annual Trouble in Toyland 2024 report. “We often assume that if something is for sale, it must be safe. But in so many cases, these toys are hazardous and they pose huge threats to our children.”

When you buy a toy or any other product online and the seller ships it directly to you from another country, it generally doesn’t get inspected before it gets to your home. And when sellers ship products in bulk but the claimed value is below a certain dollar threshold, the products frequently don’t get inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) because of a loophole.

An alarming number of toys entering this country aren’t safe. The CPSC, in collaboration with CBP confiscated more than 1.1 million dangerous or illegal toys in fiscal year 2023, according to the CPSC. That’s just the ones they flagged; many more toys, clothes and other products slip through, even though they don’t meet U.S. standards. And if a hazard is discovered later, regulators are often powerless to stop the online sales or take the sellers to court to pursue recalls. A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and CPSC commissioners is particularly concerned about Temu and Shein, both based in Asia.

The Trouble in Toyland 2024 report examines this growing problem, what regulators and lawmakers are trying to do about it and what we can do to protect our families.

In this year’s report, CALPIRG Education Fund also examines: 

• The Nov. 13 launch of Amazon Haul, the online giant’s new marketplace that ships direct from China. Analysts believe it will compete with Asia-based Temu and Shein.
• The persistent illegal sales of recalled toys. In an online “secret shopper” test, report researchers easily bought more recalled toys this fall.
• Efforts in Congress to restrict the sale of water beads as toys. Children eating water beads is connected to thousands of children’s emergency room visits, and at least one death.

“While so many toys are made safer today than when CALPIRG Education Fund started its “Trouble in Toyland’ reports four decades ago, new threats have emerged,” Hines said. “By examining the problems and offering tips to shoppers, we want to help people avoid toys that could endanger their children’s health and ruin their holidays.”

“Parents and caregivers should be cautious and inform themselves when it comes to toys that are given to children, especially ones that have been manufactured overseas,” says Helen Arbogast, DrPH, MPH, Manager of the Injury Prevention Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “Imported toys may not always comply with strict safety regulations that protect children and can introduce hidden dangers like toxic materials. To prevent children from being injured, caregivers should inspect toys for safety certifications, age-appropriateness and risks.”

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The recording from the Nov. 19 virtual report release news conference can be accessed here.