Keeping EU consumers safe – online marketplaces join efforts to remove dangerous products from EU market
Related topics
Consumer policydate: 16/03/2017
The report shows that, in 2016, the system was more actively used by national authorities, who removed more dangerous products from stores. In addition, cooperation between EU countries has intensified and they are increasingly using the Rapid Alert System to ensure that dangerous products are quickly removed everywhere in Europe.
In 2016 there were 2,044 alerts on dangerous products circulated among national authorities through the Rapid Alert System. These alerts prompted 3,824 follow-up actions, such as product recalls. The number of reactions was more than twice as high as the previous years. This shows that national authorities are following up more closely on alerts and taking all necessary measures to make the market a safer place for consumers.
The European Commission has also worked with national authorities to make the system even more user-friendly and the public website has been modernised to encourage its use by companies and consumers.
However, more and more of the dangerous products notified in the Rapid Alert System are sold on online platforms. This is why the Commission has stepped up its cooperation with Amazon, Ebay and Alibaba to tackle more actively potentially unsafe or non-compliant products from their websites which sell to consumers in the EU.
