Tuesday 21 May 2013

Keeping European consumers safe

European Commission published an annual RAPEX report for 2012 "Keeping European consumers safe" (on the operation of the Rapid Alert System for non-food dangerous products). The comparison of the report with the one from 2011 shows an increase of 26% in reported alerts. The main products that raised issues of safety were clothing, textiles and fashion items (34%), toys (19%) with the main risks such as: chemical risks (e.g., in plastic dolls), risk of strangulation (e.g., in children swimwear due to drawstrings) and risk of injury. Once more, most products that were notified as posing risks to consumers came from China. (Stronger EU cooperation leads to higher consumer safety)