PA
Party bag toys and Christmas stocking fillers such as party blowers, whistles and scratch and sniff novelties could be banned under stringent new EU regulations.
The tough new measures are part of the Toy Safety Directive, which will also outlaw kids under eight blowing up balloons unsupervised.
Other rules will state that all teddy bears and soft toys for little ones under three must be washable to limit the spread of germs, and restrictions will be put in place on how noisy rattles and shaker toys can be.
The Daily Mail reports that the new regulations will mean manufacturers will increase their prices to cover the costs of the new testing regimes their toys will have to undergo.
Toy safety expert Clive Shelton told the paper 'The new provisions for suppliers to keep detailed technical information about their products are proving to be very challenging.'
What do you think?
Complete madness, or should children's toys go through more stringent testing?