Hamburg/Bonn, 29 September 2023: the Vietnamese Regulation on Safety of Toys (QCVN 3:2019/BKHCN) was honoured with the Future Policy Award 2023 in the category “Toys” during a high-level award ceremony in context of the International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM5) in Bonn, Germany. Also known as the Oscar on best policies, the award recognises laws that promote better living conditions for current and future generations.
Vietnam’s Regulation on Safety of Toys is a comprehensive policy that includes both chemical and physical safety standards, test methods and enforcement mechanisms. It modernizes the restrictions on chemicals already regulated in the country, replacing them with more recent and protective standards on, e.g., lead, cadmium, mercury, formaldehyde, and it establishes a restriction on 6 phthalates. This is a considerable step forward in protecting children’s health in view of their harmful properties.
This year’s Global Award, with special recognition of policies from the Global South, celebrated future-proof approaches to advance toxic-free environment policies that create better living conditions for current and future generations.
“As a society, we are confronted with a multitude of crises, namely climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. To exacerbate the issue of pollution, harmful substances are incorporated into nearly all the products we rely on in our everyday lives, including toys designed for our youngest members. It is crucial that we approach this matter with great seriousness and, above all, prioritize the protection of children from these harmful substances”, says Alexandra Wandel, Chair of the Management Board of the World Future Council.
The award ceremony was livestreamed on the World Future Council’s YouTube channel.
The award has been organised by the World Future Council Foundation since 2009 and this year the World Future Council is working with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) as well as the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) and the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) , to highlight policies for a toxic-free world that regulate the use of hazardous chemicals in products, with a focus on children and their environment.
Media contact:
Alexandra Wandel, World Future Council
Tel +49 172 748 39 53
This project was funded by the Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection. The funds are made available by resolution of the German Bundestag. With the kind support of the Michael Otto Foundation.
Partner organisations:
About the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection:
About the Umweltbundesamt:
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/
About the Michael Otto Stiftung:
https://www.michael-otto.info/en/
About the Minamata Convention on Mercury:
https://mercuryconvention.org/en
