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Consumer & Product Safety Day, Shanghai Expo - 26 October 2010
Expo 2010 is taking place in Shanghai, China from 1 May to 31 October. The theme of the event is "Better city, better life". On 26 October, the European Commission's 'Health and Consumers' Directorate-General will host a one-day conference entitled "How best to ensure safe purchases for consumers - The EU experience", focusing on modern consumer policy and guarantees of product safety in Europe.
Draft programme 
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Commission looks at the issue of the reprocessing of single-use medical devices
On 27 August 2010, the Commission adopted a report on the reprocessing of medical devices in the European Union. It looks in particular at the practice of reprocessing of medical devices which are intended for single use, such as needles, syringes or catheters. The practice is not currently regulated at EU level. Earlier, the Commission had asked for an independent scientific opinion on the issue. On this basis the report concludes that the reprocessing practice may not be without risks. The Commission will assess how the current EU law on medical devices can be reviewed to ensure a high level of protection for the patients.
Read the full report
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Alternatives to animal testing for cosmetics: public consultation launched
On 23 July 2010, the Commission launched a public consultation on a draft report concerning alternative methods in cosmetic testing. Comments are sought on alternatives available in testing for certain health-related effects covered by the 2013 deadline for the marketing ban on animal-tested cosmetics. The public consultation ends on 15 October 2010. This is a part of the process to phase out animal testing of cosmetic ingredients. The testing ban on finished cosmetic products applies since 2004 and on ingredients since 2009. The marketing ban applies since March 2009 with the exception of testing for three kinds of human health-related effects, for which the deadline is March 2013. By the end of 2010, the Commission will report on the availability of and prospects for the alternatives to testing for these three types of effects.
View consultation documents
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Help us evaluate our e-shopping clip
Have you seen the clip on online shopping made by DG Health and Consumers? Would you like to help us check how good it is? We value your opinion. If you wish to take part, please click though to our survey (available in English, French, German, Dutch, Swedish and Danish). The survey takes less than ten minutes to fill in and will help us improve the way in which we communicate our consumer policy.
Haven’t seen the clip yet? Have a look
Fill in the survey:
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Holiday season: European Consumer Centres working to help and advise consumers
Consumers who have a dispute with a trader based in another EU or EEA country can turn to a European Consumer Centre (ECC) in their country for help and advice. This includes problems with airline travel, package holidays or car rental. The network of ECCs, supported by the European Commission, operates in every EU country as well as Norway and Iceland and handles over 60,000 cases annually. ECCs offers free legal advice to consumers who have not been able to resolve their complaint with the trader. They can also help solve the case by contacting the trader and their counterparts in another EU/EEA country. Under EU law, consumers enjoy a clear set of rights as air passengers (in case of problems such as cancellations, overbooking or lost luggage).
When purchasing a package holiday from any EU-based tour operator or travel agency (e.g. a combination of a flight and a hotel at an inclusive price), EU consumers have a range of additional rights.
Find an ECC near you
Holiday season: tips for consumers
EU air passenger rights
Package holidays: what rights for EU consumers?
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International, multilateral call for immediate action for safety of window blind cords
For the first time three regulators looking after the safety of consumers across the Atlantic (in the EU, Canada and the United States) have joined together to demand strong worldwide safety standards on a specific product. The European Commission’s Health and Consumers Directorate General, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and Health Canada, have issued a call for better standards on window blind cords. The aim is to reduce the risk of death and injury that corded window coverings present to children.
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International Product Safety Week 2010, 1-3 December 2010
The European Commission is organising events under the umbrella of the 3rd International Product Safety Week in Brussels, from 1 to 3 December 2010. As in the past years, this week comprises a series of conferences and meetings bringing together a broad range of (non-food) consumer product safety professionals from around the world, representing regulators, businesses,
consumer organisations, standard makers and test laboratories, academics, etc.
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Just published! Consumer Behaviour - the road to effective policy making
Have you ever told yourself that you should make an effort to be more physically
active? Have you ever been determined to eat healthier or drink fewer fizzy drinks?
Have you vowed to buy only organic or fair trade products? Did you ever promise to
yourself that next time you'll throw your empty soft-drink can into the recycling bin?
And do you think about recycling while on holidays or only during your daily routine?
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Consultation on the General Product Safety Legislative Initiative
The framework set up under the two successive General Product Safety Directives - Directive 92/59/EC and 2001/95/EC - has built up, in almost two decades, a system that fosters a general culture that all consumer products must be safe, and integrates the role of European standards for otherwise non-harmonised products. However, recurrent product safety alerts, either of global or regional relevance, have made it clear that we need a system that delivers more rapidly, efficiently and consistently throughout the EU and which, at the same time, is flexible enough to adapt to the challenges of globalisation and continue to contribute to the EU internal market of safe products.
To meet these challenges DG Health & Consumers has launched a public consultation on the revision of the current General Product Safety Directive 2001/95/EC.
Please note that the closing date for the consultation was postponed from 30 July to 20 August 2010
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EU-wide complaints reporting to speed up policy response to failing markets
On 12 May, the European Commission adopted a recommendation introducing an EU-wide method for classifying and reporting consumer complaints to be used by complaint bodies on a voluntary basis. The method is expected to deliver comparable complaints data that will provide crucial evidence as to which parts of the Internal Market are underperforming for EU consumers. This, in turn, will allow for a quicker and better targeted policy response at both national and EU level. Consumer complaints are a key indicator of market health. There are more than 700 organisations handling consumer complaints in Europe. But they use different classifications. As a result, comparison and overview are not possible, even at the national level. To facilitate the adoption of the method, the Commission will provide technical assistance such as free software.
Press release
(PDF version )
Recommendation
Staff working document
High level conference
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Directorate-General for Health and Consumers' Statement on the Icelandic Volcanic cloud
Icelandic volcanic cloud: to know more about your rights as travellers click here or about health risk assessment, click here.
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Annual RAPEX Report 2009 shows efficiency of EU's co-operation on dangerous products
The number of dangerous consumer products notified through the EU's rapid alert system for non-food dangerous products ("RAPEX") rose by 7% in 2009 compared to 2008, the Commission's annual RAPEX report reveals today. In addition, the results of an EU market surveillance exercise, involving 13 Member States checking the safety of toys, were also presented today, and show that around 20% did not comply with the relevant safety requirements.
Press release
Questions & Answers on RAPEX
Questions & Answers on Toy project
Full Rapex report
Final Report Toy Joint Action
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Conference on Consumer Complaints - How can we use consumer complaints to improve consumers' lives?
At this high-level conference, the Commission will present the harmonised methodology for classifying and reporting consumer complaints and bring together complaints experts and policymakers to exchange views on how best to facilitate the implementation of the methodology and improve understanding on analysing and using complaints data.
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Consumer Markets Scoreboard exposes barriers to better deals and a decline in consumer conditions
The spring Consumer Markets Scoreboard published on 29 March reveals that EU consumers are still not reaping the full benefits of the internal market due to barriers to cross-border commerce. There is a growing gap between cross-border and domestic e-commerce. The national conditions for consumers – measured e.g. by consumer trust in consumer authorities and NGOs, and the effectiveness of handling disputes – have declined in most countries. But eight countries have improved their scores despite the difficult economic period. The ability of consumers to afford goods and services varies greatly from one country to another: in six countries, affordability is less than half the EU average. Life in the richer EU countries is more affordable for consumers, despite higher price levels. The Commission is working to tackle existing barriers, based on a catalogue of measures, including simplifying rules for retailers.
Press release
Questions & Answers
Full report
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