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Study to support the preparation of an evaluation of the General Product Safety Directive as well as of an impact assessment on its potential revision
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Project summary:
This study was conducted by Civic Consulting for the European Commission. Its main
objective was to provide the Commission with evidence and analysis to allow it to
carry out an ex-post evaluation of the General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) and its
practical application (Part 1 of the report) and, in view of the outcome of the
evaluation, to carry out an impact assessment for a possible future revision aimed at
addressing the shortcomings identified (Part 2 of the report).
The GPSD requires that all consumer products placed on the EU market need to be
safe. In order to guarantee the safety of products, the GPSD includes pre-market as
well as post–market measures. Pre-market measures introduced by the GPSD include
the standardisation process under the GPSD and legal responsibilities of businesses
that place products on the market (including regarding safety and traceability). Postmarket
measures include responsibilities of businesses, including the duty to recall
products posing risks to consumers, as well as the responsibility of Member States to
conduct market surveillance. The GPSD also establishes the EU Rapid Alert System
(Safety Gate/RAPEX), which enables quick exchange of information between EU/EEA
Member States and the European Commission on measures taken regarding
dangerous non-food products posing a risk to consumers and other users. The GPSD
applies to non-food consumer products for which no specific EU harmonised legislation
exists (the so-called 'non-harmonised products' such as childcare articles, furniture,
clothing etc.). It is also applicable to the safety aspects or risks of harmonised
products (such as toys), to the extent that there are no specific provisions with the
same safety objective in the EU harmonised legislation. In this way, the GPSD
provides a “safety net” for consumers.
This study builds on a recent report on the implementation of the GPSD in EU/EEA
Member States, which is based on country analyses and interviews with market
surveillance authorities (MSAs) in all countries. For the current study, an additional 60
interviews were conducted, including with companies and business associations,
consumer organisations, and MSAs. Stakeholders were also consulted through an open
public consultation (with 257 respondents concerning relevant questions on the review
of the GPSD) and through four interlinked surveys targeting market surveillance and
customs authorities, businesses and their associations, as well as consumer
organisations and other stakeholders, both at the EU level and in Member States (with
a total of 153 responses). The study is also based on relevant studies, data from
Safety Gate/RAPEX, MSAs, Eurostat, WHO and EuroSafe, as well as case studies in EU
and non-EU countries. In addition, several quantitative analyses of costs and benefits
of the GPSD and its potential revision were conducted.
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Client/Financing Institution:
European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers
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 View
final report part 1 - Evaluation
View
final report part 2 - Impact assessment
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