Product safety

11.10.2007 / 00:00 CET

As chair of the European Parliamentary committee responsible for product and for toy safety, Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO), I fully support the need for urgent action on product safety, especially toys (‘Kuneva seeks EU-US product safety alliance', 27 September-3 October). The issue was raised by my committee in July, when IMCO members met the US Federal agencies concerned, the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, to find ways of co-operating to protect both EU and US consumers.
IMCO was at the origin of the resolution which was adopted in plenary last week, calling for transatlantic co-operation to prevent non-compliant and unsafe toys, half of which originate in China, being placed on the market. The Commission will now come forward with a long-awaited proposal to revise the legislation on toy safety.
More generally, the committee is currently examining, in the context of a trio of legislative proposals called the “goods package”, ways in which all products can be made safe for consumers, including necessary surveillance and notification systems and effective sanctions and penalties for any breach of EU safety standards.

Arlene McCarthy MEP
Brussels

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