The European Commission published the RAPEX Report on dangerous consumer products last week. Thanks to increased cooperation between EU and national customs’ authorities, the number of dangerous products for human health withdrawn from European markets is constantly growing: 388 restrictive measures in 2004, 701 in 2005 and 924 last year. RAPEX (the EU rapid alert system for all dangerous consumer products, with the exception of food, pharmaceutical and medical devices) allows for the rapid exchange of information between member states and the Commission of measures taken to prevent or restrict the marketing or use of products posing a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers. The system provides for the competent national authorities to send notifications of dangerous products to the services of the Commission, which will then inform all member countries – and others external to the EU that have joined the system – that they have thirty days to verify the dangerousness of the product in question and take the necessary measures. Over 40% of notifications refer to ‘voluntary measures adopted by firms’, testifying to their greater health and safety responsibility to society. The products for which most notifications are sent are toys (24%), electric appliances (19%), motor vehicles (14%), light fittings (11%) and cosmetics (5%). Despite the fact that the Commission signed a Memorandum with China in 2006 on the safety of toys, almost one case out of every two of dangerous consumer products concerns products manufactured in and imported from China.
