The toy sector in Europe

Toy companies produce an immense range of products. They invest substantial time and resources in making safe, high quality, affordable and fun toys

The toy market in Europe is the largest in the world, meeting the diverse and evolving demands of the European Union’s (EU) 78 million children. Toy companies produce an immense range of products. They invest substantial time and resources in making safe, high quality, affordable and fun toys.

Ethical manufacturing

All TIE members are also members of the ICTI CARE Process, which is the International Council of Toy Industries’ (ICTI) ethical manufacturing programme aimed at ensuring safe and humane workplace environments for toy factory workers worldwide. Members of TIE only use toy factories with the ICTI CARE Seal of Commitment.

The International Council of Toy Industries

The International Council of Toy Industries (ICTI) is committed on behalf of its members to the operation of toy factories in a lawful and safe manner. It upholds the principles that no underage, forced, or prison labour should be employed; that no one is denied a job because of ender, ethnic origin, religion, affiliation or association, and that factories provide a safe environment for workers. ICTI also acts to encourage
local and national governments to enforce wage and hour laws and factory health and safety laws.

The ICTI CARE Process The CARE (Caring, Awareness, Responsible, Ethical) Process started in the 1990s with the development of a toyindustry code of practice. It promotes ethical manufacturing in the form of fair treatment of workers with particular emphasis on wages and safe working conditions. Supply agreements with firms manufacturing on behalf of ICTI members must also adhere to these principles.
The ICTI CARE programme also evaluates whether toy factories comply with the standards it sets. Intellectual Property Rights TIE fully supports the European Union  objective to complete the single market and boost competition. As a strong supporter of free trade, TIE believes
that competition is key to drive our  companies’ success. However, competition is good as long as it is fair. Therefore, TIE’s position has always been that all companies should meet their obligations to prevent any likelihood of confusion between products to avoid an
unreasonable exploitation of another’s  efforts. TIE’s brochure on The Toy Sector and Intellectual Property Rights provides further information on the risks that counterfeit toys present to children’s health and safety as well as the cost to industry of counterfeiting and parasitic copying (also known as look-alikes: many, but not necessarily all, of the distinctive marketing properties of a brand are imitated without infringing any intellectual property rights).