Brussels, 17/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - Members of the European Parliament's internal market and consumer protection committee, consider that product safety and market surveillance, as well as the cautionary principle and producer responsibility, must be the rule. On Thursday 17 October this was clearly spelt out when they said that consumers had to be informed about the country of origin of the products they purchase. They also want a product safety label to be introduced in the EU for dangerous products to be more rapidly withdrawn from the market and for vulnerable consumers, particularly children, to benefit from greater protection.
They approved the report by Sirpa Pietikäinen (EPP, Finland) on market surveillance (32 for, 4 against, 2 abstentions) and that of Christel Schaldemose (S&D, Denmark) on product safety (27 for, 7 against, 5 abstentions) by a comfortable majority and therefore approved and significantly strengthened the two draft regulations presented by the Commission last March, to improve safety and increase surveillance of all non-food consumer products in the single market (see EUROPE 10785). Negotiations will begin with the Council to reach an agreement in the first reading on the two texts.
The Parliamentary committee is advocating that products not aimed at children but which are likely to attract their attention by their design, packaging or other characteristics, are subject to a risk assessment.
MEPs are suggesting the introduction of a new “Safety Tested” label, which would be applied voluntarily and demonstrate to consumers that the product has been declared safe after having been tested by a certified third-party. It would be up to member states to ensure that the label is used appropriately.
They call for the sanctions imposed on criminals who market goods that do not comply with safety standards or that are potentially dangerous to be both proportionate and dissuasive, and to take account of the gravity, duration and intentional or recurring character of the infringement and of the size of the company.
They propose, too, that the commission draw up an EU-wide blacklist of companies identified as having intentionally breached EU product safety rules, and a pan-European database of product-related injuries suffered by consumers.
ANEC, which represents consumers in European standardisation, welcomed the vote. Secretary General Stephen Russell hailed, in particular, “the decisions to introduce an EU-wide accident & injury database; to make reference to the precautionary principle explicit; to increase the protection offered to vulnerable consumers and to ensure the safety of child-appealing products”. (AN/transl.fl)