In 1971 the Japan Toy Association (JTA) established the Japan Safety Toy Mark Program (ST Mark) to ensure the safety of toys for children 14 years of age and under. The ST Mark is based on three toy safety standards:

• ST Part 1 – Mechanical and physical properties
• ST Part 2 – Flammability
• ST Part 3 – Chemical properties

In 2012 each of ST Parts 1 to 3 was combined to create the new Toy Safety Standard ST 2012. On the 1st of February 2016 the JTA published the new toy safety standard ST 2016.

Part 1 Physical and Chemical

The new part has a number of important changes including:

• Revision of projectile toy requirements (reference ISO 8124-1:2014)
• New shape and size requirements of “Toy fasteners” (reference ISO 8124-1:2014)
• New added bath toy projection design guidelines (reference ISO 8124-1:2014)

Clarification of the requirements of battery compartments

Part 2 Flammability

Clarification of the requirements (identical to ISO 8124-2:2014)

Part 3 Chemical Properties

It is identical to ST 2012.

The new toy safety standard ST 2016 will be effective starting the 1st of April 2016. The existing 5th edition of ST 2012 remains valid until the 31st of March 2018. During this transitional period, both sets of standards are accepted for the ST Certification Mark.

CTI remind toy producing enterprises to:

Track the latest technical regulations and implement the latest requirements into the design and production of products;

Also to control internal quality and strictly control source materials in order to improve quality of manufactured goods.