Product safety

Market surveillance is the activities carried out and measures taken by market surveillance authorities to ensure that non-food products comply with the requirements laid down in the relevant legislation and to ensure that the related public interests are protected. These include the basic consumer expectation that manufacturers place only safe products on the market.

As product safety is itself a difficult concept to define, the legislators have not defined product safety as such, but rather as a safe product, as follows:

safe product: any product that, under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use, including the actual duration of use, does not present any risk or presents only a minimal risk compatible with the use of the product, which is acceptable and consistent with a high level of protection of the health and safety of consumers.

The safety of a product can be judged on the basis of:

1. the essential characteristics of the product, in particular its composition, packaging and the specifications for its assembly, installation and maintenance, use,

2. the effects of the product on other products and on health and the environment which can reasonably be expected when used together,

3. the product's external presentation, labelling, instructions for use and handling, waste management or other information,

4. the impact of the use of the product on vulnerable consumers, in particular children, elderly and disabled persons.

The opposite of a safe product is of course a dangerous product. But there is a wide band between the two, in which the position of a specific product can be determined by risk assessment. Risk assessment is and can be carried out by economic operators and public authorities.

If a manufacturer, importer or distributor becomes aware that a product produced, imported or distributed by themselves poses a risk to consumers, they are obliged to withdraw the dangerous product from the market (voluntary action) and to inform the manufacturer, importer and the competent market surveillance authority immediately, stating the reasons for the measures taken and the results of the measures taken.

Where a product is found to be unsafe, the authority shall without delay require the relevant economic operator to take appropriate and proportionate corrective action to eliminate the cause of non-compliance or the resulting risk within a time limit set by the market surveillance authority.

In the event that the economic operator fails to take the specified corrective action or where the risk persists, the market surveillance authority shall ensure that the product is withdrawn from the market and, if necessary, recalled, and that the product is prohibited or restricted from being made available on the market (obligatory measure) and that the public, the European Commission and the other Member States are informed accordingly.

The information is provided via the European Union's market surveillance information and communication system, ICSMS, the public part of which (https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/single-market-compliance-space/market-surveillance) is accessible to everyone. On the other hand, information on dangerous products is also included in the EU's rapid alert system database, Safety Gate (formerly RAPEX) (https://ec.europa.eu/safety-gate/#/screen/home).

If consumers consider that a non-food product they have bought may pose a risk to their health or safety, or that the use of the product has already caused an accident, injury or damage to health, they can report the product to the government offices (https://kormanyhivatalok.hu/) or by sending a completed form to veszelyestermek@nkfh.gov.hu. The authority will carry out an inspection on the basis of the notification of public interest and, where appropriate, take a sample to test the safety of the product.

Samples are typically tested in accredited chemical or technical laboratories run by the consumer protection authority, or in some cases by external laboratories.