Government to recognise United States and European children's toy standards

Safety standards for children's toys are being updated to automatically approve those that meet American and European benchmarks.

Pro-Palestine protesters arrived at Toyworld Wellington on Wednesday afternoon after Regulations Minister David Seymour and Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron Brewer arrived to publicise the changes.

The protesters were quickly ejected from the building, but continued to shout and use a megaphone from outside.

The ministers said the current rules for toys were "stuck in 2002".

"They've been overtaken by newer, modern standards several times over, and they've left New Zealand lagging behind Australia," Brewer said.

"That mismatch is hurting Kiwi importers and retailers. We've heard they're retesting toys against our outdated standard even when those toys already meet a comparable international one."

Seymour said the move was sparked by complaints to the Regulations Ministry's red tape tip line.

He said testing a toy against New Zealand's standards was costing importers and retailers between $3500 and $5000 per toy.

"The Ministry for Regulation found that aligning with Australia would reduce compliance costs for suppliers and make New Zealand a more attractive market. So that's what we're doing," he said.

The ministers said the changes would bring down the price of toys, and would have a "net benefit" of up to $6.8 million over 10 years.

Seymour said the "net" figure included benefits for both the buyer and the seller.

"That's partly due to not having to make the applications, and there's fees involved in that, and costs for the people that are selling the toys, but ultimately, once you get more options and more competition and lower prices, it's the parents and ultimately the children who will have options and no longer be denied the toys that are available to American and European children."

He said he did not "put a huge amount of store" in the figure, however.

"We know that it's positive, we know it's probably in the millions, maybe higher, but we know that we're not losing anything by doing it."

He cut his statements short as a result of the protesters "because I'm just mindful of Toy World here and the disruption that they're experiencing".

He said it was a shame that people going about their business "have to put up with these kinds of interruptions from time to time. We're actually here for a very happy day, a day of deregulation".

"Unfortunately, a small number of people are able to stop a whole lot of other good people trying to come in and buy toys for their children. I don't think they do their cause any good. I suspect more and more New Zealand's frankly sick of it."

Information provided alongside their media release indicated that recognising the United States and European standards would bring New Zealand into line with "comparable international requirements" to the current 2002 Australia/New Zealand joint standard, which aims to minimise airway and choking hazards.

The note said this would not reduce the safety of toys sold in New Zealand.

After consultation through an "exposure draft", subject to final decisions, suppliers would have six months to move to the updated requirements.