Monitoring safety
The European Union has fixed various safety requirements for all goods and services marketed within its boundaries.
The monitoring of the application of these rules is ensured by the Member States and is co-ordinated at European level.
You can find out more about the monitoring of the market in the ’Product recall’ section of Dolceta.
Collaboration between the national monitoring authorities is necessary to ensure a high level of safety for goods and services.
Each Member State has a responsibility to collect information concerning products for sale within its borders. It also has to take the necessary measures to ensure that all products are safe.
Once on the market of a Member State, a product can be sold anywhere in the European Union. It is, therefore, necessary to co-ordinate the actions and information flow (...) Read more
Member states of the European Union have to implement measures to ensure that producers and distributors respect their obligations with regards to safety.
For that purpose, Member States have to:
establish competent authorities to ensure manufacturers and distributors meet their safety obligations. These authorities have to follow the development of scientific and technical knowledge relating to the safety of goods and services.
set up a system of control. In the UK, controls are (...) Read more
Administrative co-operation of the national monitoring authorities and the Commission in order to ensure suitable and uniform application of the safety requirements is essential. They exchange necessary information on request or within the framework of the various mechanisms set up.
It is the European Commission which ensures this control within the framework of various procedures.
When a national monitoring authority notes that a product is unsafe, it has, either to restrict or prohibit (...) Read more
In order to prevent accidents occurring, national enforcenment authorities can:
Lay down special marketing conditions (composition, manufacture, treatment, transport, labelling...); Compel traders to make information available to consumers, either at the time of sale (e.g. by labelling), or through an information campaign; Prescribe procedures before the product goes on sale, for example the testing of the product by an approved authority; Order the withdrawal from the market or suspend (...) Read more
The RAPEX system is a rapid exchange system of safety information. Its objective is to manage urgent situations caused by products for human consumption that present a serious and immediate danger to health and consumer safety.
The RAPEX system is limited to the cases where:
a product presents a serious and immediate danger; the effects of the danger are likely to exceed the boundary of the Member State concerned.
The characteristics of operation of the RAPEX system are fixed by the (...) Read more
There are are a number of organisations involved in safety in the UK:
British Standards Institute - www.bsi-global.com
BSI is the National Standards Body of the UK that develop safety standards to meet the needs of business and society. The BSI works with government, businesses and consumers to represent UK interests and facilitate the production of British, European and international standards -
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills - www.bis.gov.uk
BIS are responsible for (...) Read more
