Tougher EU safety rules for consumer goods

Tougher rules on the safety of all consumer goods in Europe, including powers to ban or force product recalls, came into force today.

As a result of the revised General Product Safety Directive, the European Commission from now has powers to take products off the market and outlaw them if they believe they are unsafe for public use.

The rules set safety requirements for everything from sports and playground equipment to textiles and furniture. Only food safety is not covered by today's update of EU safety laws introduced in 2001.

The Commission in Brussels says it receives about 150 complaints annually about dangerous products, mostly linked to the risks of choking and suffocation, electric shocks and fires. The bulk of complaints are about toys.

"For the first time, manufacturers have the legal obligation to inform authorities if a product is unsafe. These are recalled and taken off the market," said the EU commissioner for health and consumer protection, David Byrne.

"Also for the first time the Commission can even now initiate recalls and provisional bans to assure the same level of protection for the entire European Union. This is very good news for consumers."

Swifter action
When dangerous products have been identified, the EU has reinforced powers to act, over and above national authorities.

The European Commission can impose an emergency ban lasting up to one year if it sees fit, and can now order the suspension of a product - something previously only possible at the request of national authorities themselves.

The Commission said today that the new rules would lead to better co-operation between national authorities and swifter action when any consumer products are believed to pose a public health risk.

Manufacturers and distributors are now legally obliged to inform authorities if they conclude a product they supply is dangerous. They will then have to work with the authorities in tracing dangerous products and taking them off the market.

More specific rules
The EU's rules on product safety are a mixture of laws applying to specific products or sectors and general laws applying to all products. The revised General Product Safety Directive clarifies the relationship between its general rules on product safety and product or sector specific laws.

Detailed guidance on how the revised directive relates to other directives covering toys, equipment with voltage limits, personal protective equipment and cosmetics have been made available on the European Union website - see link above/right.

The rules also make it clear that products which "migrate" from professional to consumer use for example, power tools primarily intended for builders that become available for sale or rent to consumers in DIY shops, are covered by its rules, as are products supplied to or used by consumers as part of a service.

As a result of the directive a new European Product Safety Network has been established, enabling national consumer protection authorities to pool expertise and share information.

Work is already underway on establishing a list of potentially dangerous products of EU-wide concern, with a view to different member countries dividing up the work of monitoring and testing them.

Johnny Thomson