In 2020, 2,253 notifications for non-food consumer products posing a risk to health and/or safety were made through the EU’s rapid alert system - known as RAPEX since 2003, but now renamed the ‘Safety Gate’ - according to the annual report published by the European Commission on Tuesday 2 March.
These alerts generated 5,377 follow-up actions (compared with 4,477 in 2019), representing an increase of more than 20% in the number of measures taken to withdraw products before they are marketed or to recall products that do not comply with the requirements of the General Product Safety Directive.
Proof, according to Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, of the effectiveness of the system.
With the containment measures, the challenge last year was to face the “challenge of consumers increasingly shopping online, exposed to new risks. We have been working hard with the supervisory authorities to keep the single market safe”, Reynders told the press.
Covid-19. Last year, for the first time, 197 notifications, or 9% of all alerts issued by national authorities, concerned coronavirus-related products, mainly protective masks with insufficient particle filters (161 notifications).
But there have also been 13 alerts for hand sanitiser containing toxic chemicals, such as methanol - which can cause blindness and even death if swallowed - and 18 alerts for UV lamps that are supposed to function as sterilisers but expose users to strong radiation causing skin irritation.
Toys and others. As in previous years, toys led the notifications (27% of the total), followed by motor vehicles (21%) and electrical appliances and equipment (10%).
The most reported risks were still injuries (25%, down slightly), chemical components (18%, against 23% in 2019) and choking hazards for children (12%, down slightly).
China remains the leading country of origin of unsafe toys, but is cooperating under a product safety action plan. Mr Reynders said he had “asked for a rapid follow-up of anti-Covid-19 products”.
Digital platforms. Dishonest operators exploiting consumers’ vulnerabilities to mislead them online with supposed ‘miracle’ products have been in the Commission’s sights in 2020, with the Commission obtaining the withdrawal of thousands of products from platforms.
Two new platforms - Joom and Etsy - have joined the commitment to product safety, bringing to eleven the number of online marketplaces currently signatories. They are committed to checking that products on the ‘Safety Gate’ are not for sale on their websites and to act quickly if national authorities report dangerous products that should be withdrawn.
The visibility of companies that are committed to the safety of their products, beyond what is required by EU legislation, is ensured. This is the aim of the product safety competition launched on Monday.
Looking ahead, Mr Reynders noted that the EU’s ‘New Consumer Agenda 2021-2025’ addresses the need to take into account the complexity of supply chains and to make the consumer a player in the digital and green transitions (see EUROPE 12663/21).
In this context, the Commission is preparing the revision of the 2001 General Product Safety Directive to ensure the safety of all products, both online and offline, “including products that evolve with new technologies, such as the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence”.
There is also a need to improve market surveillance, especially for products that imitate food. Reynders “is encouraging standards bodies to work with manufacturers, distributors and retailers”.
On Tuesday, the Commission launched its public ‘Safety Gate’ website, redesigned to facilitate notifications. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)