Monday, September 3, 2007
HABA Safety Declaration
A few customers have asked me recently about alternatives to Chinese-produced toys and the safety of the wooden toys produced by HABA in Germany. Because Nurtured is a retailer of HABA wooden toys, we felt that it was necessary to inquire about the practices observed by HABA for their toy production. Rest assured that Nurtured does NOT stock HABA toys that are made outside of Germany. We stock only a small range of hand-selected toys that we feel are educationally appropriate, environmentally responsible, built to last a lifetime (or more) and above all, safe for all our families and our planet!
From HABA: "In light of the current debate on the safety and harmlessness of toys we are taking the opportunity to inform you, our customers, about the quality management processes and materials used in the HABA family of companies.
We manufacture our products according to these fundamental principles:
With the exception of wooden puzzles and Master Builder construction sets, wooden toys are produced at our production site in Bad Rodach [Germany]. We work together with German partners who have already been supplying us with first class stains, varnishes and print colors for years. These raw materials are continually being further developed and correspond to all standards and laws for the safety of toys. The materials we use for colored surface treatment of wooden toys and the clear varnish coating that follows are fundamentally water-based and therefore do not contain any harmful solvents.
A few of our wooden toys, such as wooden puzzles and the Master Builder construction sets are manufactured in China by qualified suppliers. However, these suppliers work to the same quality standards as HABA in Bad Rodach. It is not possible to manufacture these process-intensive products in Germany at a price that is in line with the market.
Fabric toys and some plastic items are manufactured by a few suppliers who are selected according to strict criteria. Suppliers must be certified in accordance with the ICTI Code of Business Practices - www.toy-icti.org). We regularly inspect and audit these suppliers. The individual materials used in fabric toys are inspected and monitored in Germany in their raw state (e.g. paints in liquid form). Unfortunately for reasons of cost it is not possible to manufacture these items in Germany. The sale price would be many times over a range that is acceptable for customers.
Our materials and product inspections go way beyond the applicable provisions. However, a 100% inspection is not possible for production in China or Germany.
Our guarantee:
The highly sophisticated materials that we use are free from harmful heavy metals (lead and chrome etc.) and correspond to the prescriptions of EU standards and the American ASTM. Our tests extend far beyond statutory provisions and entail high financial expenditure. The Landesgewerbeanstalt Bayern (LGA) in Nuremberg, an independent testing institute with years of international experience tests all of our materials and the finished toys to protect our children, in accordance with the following guidelines, standards and laws:
- EN 71 European Standard for Toy Safety
- ASTM F 963 Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety
- EU directive 76/769 EEC on azo-dyes (forbidden amine)
- Chemicals prohibition ordinance (national) stannous-organic compound
Quality management:
We have installed a constant quality management system in our manufacture and goods entrance departments, which reports directly to the management. This guarantees fully independent test processes for the safety of children.
- Goods entrance inspections of materials
- Constant monitoring of materials by an independent testing laboratory according to current requirements.
- Ongoing checks by trained staff during in-house processing of paints and varnishes.
- Sample goods entrance inspections of ready-assembled toys in accordance with AQL 2.5.
- Constant adjustment to global legal requirements for toys.
We produce our toys with the highest possible level of safety. When you choose HABA you are choosing a quality product that corresponds to all valid directives and provisions. That is guaranteed by the staff and management of the HABA family of companies!
Bad Rodach August 22, 2007
Habermaaß GmbH
Klaus Habermaaß" Labels: HABA, Playtime
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