Toy Association External Affairs Strategy Meeting Highlights Priority Issues & Action Items for 2018

November 13, 2017 | Dozens of Toy Association members, staff, consultants, and industry representatives from around the globe attended the annual External Affairs Strategy Meeting held in Washington, DC last week. Attendees discussed potential approaches to key legislative and regulatory priorities as well as strategies for intellectual property protection, safeguarding connected toys, and other topics that will be important to the toy industry in 2018 and beyond.

Held November 7 and 8, the meeting kicked off with a review and forecast of the industry’s short- and long-term priority policy areas, followed by brainstorming discussions on policy, messaging, and actions to be taken in the areas of marketing to children, environmental sustainability, product safety, state legislative activity, reducing barriers to international trade, and intellectual property protection in the e-commerce space. Guest speakers included representatives from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Alibaba.

"Participating in any Toy Association meeting is always beneficial for our company,” says Stephan Brissaud, COO at IELLO USA and president of GAMA. “The topics and content are dense and appropriate. It is a tremendous luxury to know that there is a team of seasoned lobbyist in our corner, understanding our concerns and promoting our interests on the Hill."

Adds Steve Pasierb, president & CEO of The Toy Association: “This was The Toy Association’s most ambitious and successful Strategy Meeting to date, with consultants participating from New York, California, Vermont, and Oregon, and industry representatives attending from Brazil, Canada, and Europe. Our incredibly talented and dedicated External Affairs team led by executive vice president, Ed Desmond, looks forward to putting the input and recommendations received into action to further strengthen The Toy Association’s international, federal, state and local advocacy programs on behalf of the entire toy industry.”

In-depth details about the meeting’s outcomes will be made available to Toy Association members on request. For more information, contact Samantha Slosberg, assistant manager of external affairs.