CE MARKS & BALLOONS.

CE Marks In General & The Recent Amscan Questions.

Following earlier discussions relating to CE marking, I asked Amscan if they could confirm why we are seeing changes to packaging and markings so we could allay any concerns from balloon professionals. Here is their reply.

CE marking is a EU conformity mark and it’s a manufacturer self declaration that a product complies with the EU product safety standards. Just based on CE marking one cannot justify if a product is safe or not. It is juts printed on product or packaging and anyone can do so.

Relevant link: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/ce-marking_en.

Anagram reviewed its product lines internally and with various international organizations, including Toy Industry of America, the European Balloon & Party Council, and third party testing organizations, and recognized the need to more specifically categorize foil balloons according to foreseeable and intended use. The vast majority of our foil balloons, for example, basic shapes, numerals and letters, are intended for decorative purposes. In these cases where the inflatable foil balloon has no play value or intent or likelihood to be used in play, we have classified them as decorations and provided corresponding packaging statements, for example "This product is a decoration, not a toy. Keep away from children, flames and direct heat sources". We are currently in the transition period and this will be a continued rolling change. In some cases, inflatable foil balloons will have play value or intention to be used in play. For these situations, play value products will continue to be tested and labeled as toys in accordance with applicable regulations and standards, for example EN 71. We feel that classification and labeling of decorative foil balloons as decorations, where applicable, ultimately protects the consumer from inappropriate and unintended use.

I hope this clarifies the situation, but please do not hesitate to contact me if your require any additional information.