The European Commission published the full statistics of the Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products (RAPEX). Last year, nearly 2500 products, ranging from toys to motor vehicles, were either stopped before they entered the EU or removed from markets because they were dangerous for EU consumers. Among them, 74 cosmetic products.
For 12 years, the European Commission and EU Member States have been working together to ensure that consumer goods placed on the European markets are safe. For this purpose, they use the Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products. Thirty-one countries (EU together with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) currently participate in the system.
The Rapid Alert System ensures that information about dangerous non-food products withdrawn from the market and/or recalled anywhere in Europe is quickly circulated between Member States and the European Commission. In this way, appropriate follow up action (ban/stop of sales, withdrawal, recall or import rejection by Customs authorities) is taken everywhere in the EU and consumers are informed. In 2014, there were 2755 such follow-up actions registered in the system.
The most dangerous products
In 2014, toys (28%) and clothing, textiles and fashion items (23%) were the two main product categories for which corrective measures had to be taken. Among the most frequently notified risks caused by these products were risk of injury, chemical risks and choking.
China remains the number one country of origin in the alert system. Last year, 64% of the total number of notifications on dangerous products related to products coming from China, …
