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The CE marks is a mark applied to all toys sold within the EU and the NI,
The UKCA mark is a mark applied to toys sold in the UK (Excluding NI)
It is the toy’s passport mark to say that it conforms to the standards needed to be sold. Its a mark to say that the toy meets the minimum standards set out in the EN71 (the regulations for toys)
Every toy needs one to be sold legally in the EU but the CE mark is also applied to many other things like medical and electrical devices, as they too need to pass standards before they can be sold (under different rules and tests of course!)
Conformity
The 2011 Regulations apply to toys manufactured with the following characteristic: toys designed or intended (whether or not exclusively) for use in play by children under 14 years old. There are some products that are specifically excluded from the scope of the 2011 Regulations (e.g. toy steam engines – see Regulation 4). Toys, including the chemicals they contain, must not jeopardise the safety or health of users or third parties when they are used as intended or in a foreseeable way, bearing in mind the behaviour of children.
Testing
There are three categories of testing a soft toy needs to pass:
Chemical: All your fabrics/materials need to conform to the chemical testing standards called the EN71-3. These are 18 different heavy metals. Some manufacturers test for you although they don’t have to.
Physical: To be sure your toy is up to the intense play it could have, these tests are based on children’s ability to destroy a loved toy.Firstly you need to check lengths of cord, loops and toy size to check it’s not got any hazards like strangulation or choking risks.Physical tests on toys are done by hanging weights from toys with clamps, poking them with spoons (ok, ok, spoon and putting into small cylinders to see if they are too small to be safe (ie. a chocking hazard).
Flammability: To see how fast a toy burns, and to be sure a child has time to drop a burning toy, you need to burn a toy sample, unwashed and then washed. This sounds terrifying, but it turns out to be curiously fun most of the time. By working out the spread of flame, you can tell if the toy passes or fails the testing.