RAPEX 2018 Annual Report Shows Stabilization in Annual Dangerous Product Reports

SGS expert details the major themes from the 2018 RAPEX annual report for stakeholders. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) July 10, 2019 - The 2018 RAPEX annual report has been released by the European Commission and it shows there has been a stabilization in the number of notifications and Member State follow-up actions. It also suggests online products need closer inspection.

The report shows that in 2018:
• 2,257 alerts were sent through the Rapid Alert System with 4,050 follow-up actions
• Toys remain the most notified product category (31%), followed by: motor vehicles (19%), clothing & textiles (10%), electrical appliances (8%) and cosmetics (7%)
• The most common risk is chemical (25%), followed by: injuries (25%), choking (18%), electric shock (10%) and fire (8%)

Stakeholders should be aware a new type of toy, named the squeezable or squishy toy, which was notified several times in 2018. The risk associated with these toys relates to small parts being choking hazards and the inclusion of dangerous chemical substance, which pose a risk to eyes, the mucus membrane and liver. These include:
• N,N-dimethylformamide
• N,N-dimethyl-aminoethanol
• Cyclohexanone
• Triethylenediamine

There are currently no harmonized standards to check for these chemical substances. However, the requirements for the assessment of dangerous chemical substances is mentioned in the Toy Safety Directive 2009/48/EC.

Broad themes from the 2018 RAPEX report show:
1. Figures for alerts and follow-up actions have stabilized
2. National authorities need to improve surveillance of online offers by developing tools and specializations:
• 16% of notifications are related to online sales
• Product Safety Pledge signed by the four major online marketplaces (Alibaba, eBay, Amazon and Rakuten France) to allow national authorities to contact them directly and ask them to remove products identified as unsafe from their platforms
3. RAPEX website renamed ‘Safety Gate’. It’s now available in 25 languages and is more user-friendly
4. EU and Canada have signed a cooperation agreement on the exchange of information on unsafe products

SGS Product Recalls
SGS is committed to providing stakeholders with the latest news concerning product recalls from around the world. SGS sends a list of the latest unsafe product notifications every fortnight and also publishes a quarterly overview of product recalls – Product Recall Trends – both are distributed with the SafeGuards email. To learn more about SGS Product Recalls: [www.sgs.com/en/consumer-goods-retail/product-recalls]

SGS SafeGuardS keep you up to date with the latest news and developments in the consumer goods industry. Read the full RAPEX 2018 Annual Report – 2,257 dangerous products alerts and 4,050 follow-up actions SafeGuardS. [www.sgs.com/en/news/2019/06/safeguards-08719-rapex-2018-annual-report-2257-dangerous-products-alerts-and-4050-follow-up-actions]

Subscribe here, www.sgs.com/subscribesg, to receive SGS SafeGuardS direct to your inbox.

For further information contact:

Frederique Lorber
Knowledge Management - Senior Project Manager
Tel: +33 4 42 61 64 42
Email: cts.media ( @ ) sgs dot com
Website: www.sgs.com/cgnr
LinkedIn: sgs-consumer-goods-&-retail

About SGS
SGS is the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. SGS is recognized as the global benchmark for quality and integrity. With more than 97,000 employees, SGS operates a network of over 2,600 offices and laboratories around the world.

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