The Rapid Alert System: What’s in it for you? Alicia GONZÁLEZ CHAVES European Commission Directorate-General Justice and Consumer Product Safety and Rapid Alert System

European Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products – what is it? System for rapid exchange of information between MS and EFTA/EEA countries (28+3) and the European Commission about measures and actions taken in relation to products posing a serious risk to consumers RAPEX general

RAPEX networks a) RAPEX Contact Points network at European level: 31 RAPEX National Contact Points, 1 per MS/EEA b) National RAPEX networks in Member States RAPEX Contact Points Customs authorities Market surveillance authorities Etc.

Notification criteria for Member States Consumer/professional product Consumer harmonised & non-harmonised / Non-consumer harmonised Excluding food/feed, pharmaceutical, medical devices 2) Posing a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers and to environment Serious risk only National authorities = risk assessors 3) Subject to measures which prevent, restrict or impose specific conditions on the marketing and use Mandatory and voluntary measures All kinds of preventive or restrictive measures (sales ban, withdrawal, recall, etc.) 4) The serious risk has a cross-border effect go beyond the territory of one Member State RAPEX general & legal

RAPEX notifications… …contain information necessary to: Identify the product Identify the marketing and distribution channels Trace origin of the product Determine the related risks Identify the measures taken to prevent risks Composition of risk assessment in GRAS

RAPEX Worflow Notification created at MS level Notification validated at MS level (by the RAPEX contact point) Notification checked by the Commission Notification validated by the Commission and distributed to all countries Publication of an extract of the notification on the RAPEX public website Follow up of the notification by other countries: possible submission of a reaction Helmuth asked us to present our service/where we are working I'm one of several persons checking the notifications in terms of accurateness, coherence, information/photos, legislation, info for the web…sending follow-up questions to the MS if necessary or liaising with other services of the EC - Working on IT changes

Follow-up to RAPEX notifications After receiving the notification all Member States must examine the notification and: Find out if the product was marketed on their territory Perform risk assessment (if needed) Evaluate whether national measures should be adopted Collect any relevant information Submit a « reaction » to the Commission via RAPEX if relevant

Interesting for economic operators… 1. Publication (search, weekly reports, etc.) 2. Statistical tool All info at https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumers_safety/safety_products/rapex/alerts/repository/content/pages/rapex/index_en.htm

1. Notifications are published online

Example - a notification from Malta

2. Statistical tool

Economic operators: Tools to comply with their obligations 3. Business gateway 4. RAG tool (Risk Assessment Guidelines) All info at https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumers_safety/safety_products/rapex/alerts/repository/content/pages/rapex/index_en.htm

3. « Old » Business Application…

…to be replaced by Business Gateway (mid-March 2018)

Submission form New features: Panel view Direct creation and submission of notifications in the application, no need to generate and send pdfs No need to confirm the submission Possibility for Economic Operators to save drafts

Draft list for economic operators Generate PDFs Edit/Delete/ Submission buttons Status

4. RAG tool for risk assessment (mid-March 2018)

Visits to RAPEX networks to improve the impact and efficiency of the Rapid Alert System Reality shows that there are difficulties with regard to timeliness, quality and follow-up of notifications Differences in practices and approaches that hinder efficiency of the system The European Commission is visiting all Member States/EEA to Grasp realities on the ground (resources, structure, sampling & testing, communication, etc.) Identify areas where authorities face problems and where Commission can help Why am I here? Main tasks of the national contact point – but difficulties remain (internal organisation, legislation, cooperation, resources, political priorities, etc.) Resulting in difficulties respecting timeliness, quality and follow up of notifications, There are important differences in approaches and activities across countries that jeopardize the optimal operation of the RAPEX network and by extension, the functioning of the single market

Thank you for your attention Thank you for your attention ! For more information visit our website: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/consumers_safety/safety_products/rapex/alerts/repository/content/pages/rapex/index_en.htm Or send us an e-mail : just-rapex@ec.europa.eu