|
HOT
TOPICS
DTI Consultations
The DTI recently launched a consultation on the Commission's draft Regulation to improve the operation of mutual recognition for non-harmonised goods in the EU. The consultation is available at
www.dti.gov.uk/consultations/page38029.html. The draft Regulation will introduce a procedure for Member State market surveillance authorities to follow if they wish to withdraw a product from the market for non-compliance with a national technical rule.
-
Market surveillance authorities will be required to write to the producer and supplier of the goods informing them in advance of their intention to withdraw a product from the market for non-compliance with a national technical rule, and setting out the reason and
justification.
-
Producers/suppliers will then be given a period to respond before the product can be withdrawn.
-
There will be a limited number of exceptions for products that need to be withdrawn immediately for safety reasons.
-
The Regulation will also require Member States to set up Product Contact Points to provide information to businesses and others about their national technical rules.
The DTI supports the principle of making mutual recognition more effective, but will want to ensure that any new procedure really does reduce barriers to trade, enables unsafe products to be withdrawn from the market immediately, and is not unduly burdensome for national administrations. The DTI has asked for views on the draft Regulation. In particular,
-
If businesses have encountered problems with another Member State's national technical rules when trying to export goods, or are aware of such problems;
-
Whether businesses think the procedure would be effective, or whether other methods would be more effective;
-
What the practical consequences of the proposal would be; and
-
Whether the proposal would be beneficial.
The consultation closes on 23 May 2007, but negotiations on the draft Regulation are already underway in Brussels - the Commission began negotiations almost immediately after publishing the draft regulation. As such, the DTI has asked for initial views as soon as possible, so that they can be taken into account in negotiations.
A second consultation has also begun on the European Commission’s recent Proposals for a “Regulation on Accreditation and Market Surveillance” and a “Decision on a common framework for the marketing of products”. This Consultation can be found at
www.dti.gov.uk/consultations/page38188.html. The Commission’s Proposals stem from the work undertaken in the New Approach Review and forms part of a new Internal Market package of complementary measures that have been designed to strengthen and modernise the Internal Market for goods. Although this stemmed from the New Approach Review, it is significantly broader in scope, eg the Market Surveillance element in the Regulation Proposal applies to all products covered by Community harmonisation legislation (with certain exceptions).
The Proposal for a directly applicable Regulation will create a European legal framework for Accreditation to ensure that the market has confidence in conformity assessment bodies (ie testing, certification and inspection bodies). It also establishes a framework for Market Surveillance which is intended to ensure equal levels of enforcement across the Community and to strengthen co-operation between Member States and with the Commission. There is also a new proposal on border controls for non-compliant products. This has been a key issue for the CEA during the last 10 or so years.
The Proposal for a Decision will not have a direct effect in law but will set the formal framework for all new legislative proposals (including revisions and updates) for Community harmonisation legislation in this area. It is intended to streamline and improve the existing mechanisms that were established by the New Approach and to extend these across other areas of product legislation. The Proposal contains definitions that will clarify commonly used terms and responsibilities and also covers conformity assessment procedures, the notification of conformity assessment bodies and CE marking.
The closing date for the Consultation is 1 June 2007, but because the negotiations are underway and because it is a high priority for the German Presidency, the DTI has requested an early response.
|
