1992H0579 — EN — 01.01.1995 — 001.001

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Amended by:

Amended by:

▼B

COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION

of 27 November 1992

calling upon Member States to set up the infrastructures needed to identify dangerous products at the external frontiers

(92/579/EEC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 155, second indent thereof,

Whereas the Member States must, by 29 June 1994, the scheduled implementation date of Council Directive 92/59/EEC of 29 June 1992 on general product safety ( 1 ), have adopted the laws, regulations and administrative provisions to comply with the abovementioned Directive; whereas one of the main elements of the Directive is a coherent set of procedures at both national and Community level to ensure compliance with the general safety obligation, i.e. the obligation on producers to place only safe products on the market;

Whereas the definition of ‘producer’ in point (d) of Article 2 of Directive 92/59/EEC also covers the importer of the product; whereas the obligation on producers to place only safe products on the market applies equally to the activities of importers seeking the release for free circulation of consumer products from non-member countries;

Whereas this Directive makes provision for the adoption at Community level of emergency measures as a last resort where Member States differ on the emergency measures to be taken, and if the existing Community procedures prove inadequate to deal with emergency situations created by dangerous products;

Whereas this procedure provides for a Community decision laying down temporary measures in respect of a specific product; whereas Member States are then responsible for taking the appropriate measures nationally to ensure its implementation in their own territory; whereas national measures of this nature are also required if the emergency situation can be dealt with the Member States themselves without formal involvement by the Community, provided that all equivalent measures are taken to eliminate the risk and protect the health and safety of consumers and the smooth functioning of the single market;

Whereas, where the abovementioned national provisons involve banning certain products from the market and in view of the applicability of Directive 92/59/EEC in the case of release for free circulation, compliance with these provisions will be ensured by the national authorities responsible for supervising the market, including the customs authority responsible for authorizing the release for free circulation of products of non-Community origin;

Whereas, in the period prior to implementation of Directive 92/59/EEC, in order to ensure a high level of consumer protection, not only within their own territory but also at the external frontiers, it is appropriate to invite the Member States to provide, as of now, for administrative infrastructures enabling products deemed dangerous to be identified;

Whereas Council Decision 89/45/EEC of 21 December 1988 on a Community system for the rapid exchange of information on dangers arising from the use of consumer products ( 2 ), as amended by Decision 90/352/EEC ( 3 ), provides for an effective and coherent infrastructure to allow exchange of information between the Member States and the Commission; whereas the procedure is initiated where a Member State decides to take urgent steps to prevent, restrict or attach particular conditions to the marketing or use on its territory of a product because of the serious and immediate risk which that product presents for the health or safety of consumers;

Whereas this information procedure has been designed to alert other Member States to the serious and immediate risk presented by certain consumer products on the market which have been identified by a specific Member State, to enable them to take the appropriate steps to ensure consumer protection in their own territory;

Whereas this system of market supervision can also be used by Member States in order to identify the products deemed to present a serious and immediate risk, notably during the import formalities for release for free circulation of such products of non-Community origin; whereas in these conditions the decision by a Member State to ban or restrict the marketing of a specific product may equally apply to products identical to the notified dangerous products of non-Community origin which have been declared for release for free circulation;

Whereas the procedures advocated in this recommendation are not such as to prejudice the practical verification and analysis methods used by the national authorities to establish whether a product is genuinely dangerous;

Whereas, pursuant to Decision 89/45/EEC, the Member States have the infrastructures needed to check the extent to which a notified product presents a serious and immediate risk; whereas, for the system to be effective, the Member States are invited to inform their customs authorities of the results of such checks in order to allow identification of the product concerned on the basis of the customs declaration presented as part of the formalities for release for free circulation;

Whereas in so far as such products are identified by the customs authority, it is recommended that clearence for their release onto the market be suspended in order to enable the competent authorities to carry out the checks needed;

Whereas, even if the notified product is not available on the national market, it is suggested that Member States give the competent authorities the opportunity to take the measures referred to above with regard to the product on the basis of information notified in the context of the rapid exchange system and, where appropriate, on the basis of examination of a sample supplied to the competent authority; whereas, in the event of measures being taken in respect of a dangerous product, it is desirable that the customs authorities have this information at their disposal in order to ensure proper surveillance of external frontiers; whereas, in these conditions, supplementary checks as described above may be undertaken where the notified product has been declared for release for free circulation;

Whereas if, as a result of such checks, the product concerned is found to present a genuine serious and immediate risk for consumer health or safety, Member States are invited to prohibit its release for free circulation on the basis of the abovementioned national measure;

Whereas, pending implementation of Directive 92/59/EEC, Member States are invited to implement this recommendation to ensure a high level of consumer protection, through effective surveillance of the external frontiers to protect against products presenting a serious and immediate risk;

Whereas, to assess the effectiveness of the procedures advocated in this recommendation, in so far as the Member States have acted upon it, it is desirable that the Commission should, after consultation with the Member States, notify the European Parliament and Council;

Whereas this recommendation by its very nature is without prejudice to the application of the equivalent Community notification procedures,

HEREBY FORMULATES THIS RECOMMENDATION: