International Cooperation on Consumer Product Safety

Transcription

1 International Cooperation on Consumer Product Safety

2 Overview Why international cooperation? What are our objectives? Bi-lateral cooperation (Part I) Tri-lateral cooperation (Part II) Multi-lateral cooperation (Part III)

3 Why cooperate? Products are traded globally Consumer products are increasingly coming to the EU from 3rd countries Supply chains are more and more complex Preference to tackle the problem at source

4 Objectives Share experience and knowledge with authorities in other jurisdictions Coordinate standardisation efforts Ensure manufacturers worldwide are aware of the applicable safety requirements and comply with them With individual countries if justified, otherwise in multi-lateral context

5 Part I Bi-lateral cooperation

6 Bi-lateral cooperation Focused on key trade partners Mainly with USA and China Limited cooperation with Japan Also with Switzerland in the context of bi-lateral agreement

7 Bi-lateral USA Why the USA? Europe and the United States face many similar challenges concerning the safety of products Aim is to keep consumers on both sides of the Atlantic safe from dangerous products Our main partner is the United States' Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

8 Bi-lateral USA What have we done? In February 2005 establishment of Guidelines to strengthen transatlantic cooperation in product safety Regular discussions are taking place on cooperation in the product safety area between the EU and US under the Transatlantic Economic Council There is regular information exchange between the Commission and CPSC on the regulatory developments in the EU and the US, e.g. on emerging hazards, regulatory developments, etc. A specific toy safety working group has been set up to discuss common issues in this area

9 Bi-lateral USA Next steps? On 10 November 2009 European Council gave the Commission an authorisation to negotiate an agreement on cooperation and information exchange between the European Community and the US, with the aim to: establish regular dialogue and co-operation on issues of common interest and formalise the already ongoing informal dialogue with the US Authorities in the product safety area; ensure, via cooperation and exchange of information, better protection for consumers both in the European Union and the United States of America. The agreement should be concluded in 2010

10 Bi-lateral China Why China? China has become a key trading partner over the past decade Many consumer products found to be unsafe originate from China Key partner is General Administration if Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ)

11 Bi-lateral China What have we done? Memorandum of Understanding between DG SANCO and AQSIQ Working groups on consumer safety/market surveillance and RAPEX China Roadmap for Safer Toys RAPEX China application

12 Country of origin 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 12% 11% 13% 13% 11% 13% 10% 7% 20% 13% 17% 23% 20% 20% 22% 20% 21% 27% Other Unknown EU-25/27 and EEA China, including Hong Kong 40% 30% 20% 38% 49% 49% 52% 59% 60% 10% 0%

13 RAPEX-China Application Access to RAPEX data for AQSIQ Covers RAPEX notifications concerning products coming from China ing from AQSIQ every 3 months Operational since September 2006 RAPEX-China Working Group under MoU

14 RAPEX-China: Objectives Enhance safety of products by allowing AQSIQ to enforce corrective action at the source Provide AQSIQ with information that allows them to target market surveillance and enforcement Educate Chinese manufacturers and exporters on the EU safety rules and standards Contribute in promoting consumer confidence in Chinese products

15 RAPEX-China: Latest results 4302 notifications stored in the system 11 follow-up reports covering period September August notifications investigated by AQSIQ On average 93 notifications investigated over a three month period

16 Measures taken 1007 NOTIFICATIONS MEASURES ADOPTED 566 (56%) MEASURES NOT ADOPTED 441 (44%) EXPORT STOPPED BY AQSIQ OR BY MANUFACTURER 273 (27%) MANUFACTURER COULD NOT BE FOUND 253 (25%) STRENGTHENED SUPERVISION (14%) DIFFERENT RISK ASSESSMENT 37 (4%) CORRECTIVE ACTIONS 125 (12%) OTHER- 151 (15%) OTHER 27 (3%)

17 Investigations undertaken I & II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI

18 Exports stopped 50% 40% 35% 44% 30% 24% 29% 28% 26% 20% 10% 17% 17% 0% III IV V VI 5% VII VIII IX X XI

19 Traceability 40% 34% 30% 20% 21% 26% 22% 20% 30% 26% 15% 10% 12% 0% III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI

20 Bi-lateral China Next steps? Continue to drive improvement of response to RAPEX China system Explore possibilities to undertake joint surveillance activities Develop seamless surveillance concept

21 Bi-lateral Japan What have we done? In the frame of the 17th Japan-EU Summit, Europe and Japan agreed to strengthen their cooperation at international and bilateral levels in the area of product safety. In Joint Statement it was agreed, in particular, to: enhance the exchange of information on non-food product safety policies. share (publicly available) information on recent major recalls and withdrawals from the market of dangerous non-food products, including those imported from the third countries, triggered by accidents or by market surveillance and monitoring activities in Japan and the EU.

22 Bi-lateral Switzerland What have we done? Opened negotiations in 2008 on a new agreement in the area of food, public health, access to market and consumers So far, 3 negotiation rounds held Agreement

23 Part II Tri-lateral cooperation

24 Tri-lateral cooperation Why tri-lateral cooperation? Ensuring a high level of product safety is a matter of shared concern for the European Union, China and the United States Combined efforts and intensified cooperation are in the mutual interest of our citizens and economies. In response to the growing bilateral contacts, we have engaged since the middle of 2008 in tri-lateral discussions Aim is to build up mutual trust and to develop a coordinated response to the challenges we face in addressing product safety concerns

25 Tri-lateral cooperation What have we done? A joint EU-US-China Initiative on Consumer Product Safety Compliance took place in China, from September 2008, including 3 one-day training seminars in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai focusing respectively on textiles, toys and electrical appliances High-Level Regulatory EU-China-US Trilateral Meeting in Brussels on 17 November 2008 to further strengthen cooperation

26 Tri-lateral cooperation Next steps? A second High-Level Regulatory EU-China-US Trilateral Meeting will take place in October 2010 in Shanghai in conjunction with the World Expo Discussion on further alignment of the different toy standards will continue

27 Part III Multi-lateral cooperation

28 International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organisation ICPHSO is an international forum for stakeholders in the public and private sectors with an interest in consumer product safety. The last ICPHSO European conference was held on 18 and 19 November 2008 in Brussels Next meeting to take place in London in the Autumn For more information see:

29 International Consumer Product Safety Caucus The ICPSC is a platform to facilitate the exchange of information on consumer product safety issues in the area of governmental policy, legislation and market surveillance with a view to strengthening the collaboration and cooperation among governments and regulatory agencies around the world. The Caucus meets twice a year often in conjunction with other international gatherings on consumer product safety and organises specific workshops (e.g. on traceability and recall effectiveness) For more information see

30 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development The OECD provides a setting where governments compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and coordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD has been hosting talks among regulators (including the European Commission) on product safety. The OECD, in in co-operation with its members set out to: Review current information-sharing mechanisms on product safety; Enhance co-operation and collaboration with bodies that facilitate regional information-sharing; Develop a set of principles and a web portal on enhanced information sharing

31 International cooperation More information can be found on: