Product safety: new monitoring scheme for EU’s internal market
On June 20, 2019, the European Commission established a new market surveillance regulatory framework to assess the compliance of products placed on EU’s internal market. Under Regulation (EU) 2019/1020, economic operators (manufacturers, importers, authorized representatives, or fulfilment service providers) shall ensure products placed on EU market are compliant with European requirements related to the protection of health and safety of workers and of consumers and to the protection of environment. Regulation 2019/1020 targets products already covered by an Union harmonisation legislation, provided that no such specific requirements are already laid down in harmonisation legislation. It will apply to all 70 sectors listed under Annex I, starting from 16 July 2021 except for articles relating to the Union Product Compliance Network which shall apply from 1 January 2021. Directive 2004/42/EC of 21 April 2004, Regulation (EU) 765/2008 of 9 July 2008 as well as Regulation (EU) 305/2011 of 9 March 2011 will be amended accordingly.
The adopted regulation is part of the so-called “Goods package”, which also included the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mutual recognition of goods lawfully marketed in another member state, which was adopted in March 2019.
The new Regulation aims to facilitate cooperation among national market surveillance authorities. Its scope is to clarify the procedures for the mutual assistance instrument, and require manufacturers out of EU to appoint a natural or legal person responsible for compliance information. The responsible person can be: the manufacturer of the goods, the importer (where the manufacturer is not established in the EU), an authorised representative, or a fulfilment service provider, when none of the previous mentioned are established in the EU.
Organizations placing these products on the EU market, who do not yet identify a responsible person established in the European Union, or who rely on an economic operator established in the UK, should assess their obligations and take the necessary steps.
The Regulation applies to products subject to identified EU harmonisation legislation, unless the legislation contains more specific provisions on market surveillance and enforcement. The identified EU harmonisation legislation includes: EU legislation on products, chemicals and waste.
For further information access the full text of the adopted regulation.
Source:
Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on market surveillance and compliance of products and amending Directive 2004/42/EC and Regulations (EC) No 765/2008 and (EU) No 305/2011, OJEU of 25 June 2019
