Holiday-Presents Daily Product Safety Update -Edition number 17
Today: Who is responsible for Product Recalls?
Traditionally, the end of the year is a time of conviviality and togetherness. Giving presents is an undeniable part of this. But what should you pay attention to when it comes to the safety of these presents? There are still products available that are (partly) unsafe. Fortunately, this is just a fragment of the total offer.
We are here to keep you up to date on the latest developments in product safety. On the one hand, we pay attention to products that are being withdrawn from the market because of included hazardous parts. On the other hand, we provide information on details you should look out for when purchasing products that are still available.
Every day the latest news, alerts and mentionable facts.
Keep yourself informed with our Holiday-Presents Daily to make sure that the present you give is a present that's safe. Once every weekday we will provide a newsletter including the latest news on product safety and recalls, important alerts and mentionable facts that relate to the safety of products. Millions of products have been recalled this year. Here's a video from the US Consumer Reports on how to protect yourself and your family. Hopefully our newsletter will add to your and your children's safety.
Recall Responsibility
In our Holiday-Presents Daily, the Product Safety alert, we keep you updated. Not only about alerts, we also want to keep you updated about news and new facts. In many cases an alert consists of a product recall. And in most cases this recall is issued because of the lack of conformity to the EU Product Safety Standards. That can be the failure of complying to a regulation that the EU calls the Toys Directive, it can be non-conformity to e.g., a directive called “The Machinery Directive”, it can be about Pressure Equipment, Personal Protective Equipment, Hazardous substances, medical devices, you name it. Bottom line is that the EU wants their inhabitants safe! Yes, there are a lot of legislations. Unfortunately, these are undoubtfully necessary to keep you all safe.
So, when there is a product for sale on, let’s say, e-Bay, who is there to surveil the safety of it? Is there an authority that says: " this cannot be sold because the product is dangerous?”
Thankfully there are some regulatory product safety organizations. Please note that there is, globally speaking, not just one. From an international point of view there are many rules, regulations and authorities to keep the safety at the highest level possible. This resulted in the formation of national and regional Product Safety Watchdogs. They do not only regulate, but they also surveil the markets and will intervene when necessary. These are the organisms that usually order recalls. Even though the end responsibly is with the producer. In some cases, they themselves order a recall to restore a problem. History has taught us that generally speaking the safety of most products on our markets cannot be left to the responsibility of the producer.
Therefor we have watchdogs all over the globe:
Any of the above organizations is there for one reason; to keep you safe. Bureaucracy? Possible. Is it difficult to apply general rules to every specific case? So, there might be some conflict of interest which should be addressed. In our opinion it is difficult indeed and yes there might be a conflict of interests. But we should all bear in mind that the safety of products and the people who use these products has number ONE priority. That is why we have global watchdogs who have no problem of recalling products that do not comply. It is for your safety.
This is just some general of product safety information. With our Holiday-Presents Daily we will continue to follow the news on Product Safety and we will continue to keep you informed.