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Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1

00 – 950 Warsaw

Tel. (48-22) 55 60 390

Fax. (48-22) 827 03 04

www.uokik.gov.pl

e – mail: ddz@uokik.gov.pl

The Office for Competition and

Consumers’ Protection

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MARKET SURVEILLANCEMARKET SURVEILLANCE IN POLAND IN POLAND

an example of the horizontal approach

Renata Wolanin

Director of the Market Surveillance Department

The Office for Competition and

Consumers’ Protection

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UOKiKOffice for Competition and ConsumerOffice for Competition and Consumers’s’ Protection Protection

Competition State Aid

Consumer Policy

Market

Surveillance

General Product Safety

New Approach Directives

Fuels

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SYSTEMS of CONTROLS• New Approach Directives

– from 1st of May 2004– 23 directives (without medical devices)– OCCP: co-ordination role in market surveillance

• General Product Safety Act– from 31st January 2004 – transposing GPSD 2001/95/EC – OCCP: application of measures

• Quality of the fuels – from 1st May 2004– strategic planning with some involvement in

controls

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GENERAL

PRODUCT

SAFETY

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Market surveillance in the field of general product safety (GPS)

LEGISLATION

• introduces safety requirements for consumer products not subject to sectoral legislation

• sets out additional obligations on producers and distributors (e.g. notifications)

• nominates the authorities competent to monitor the safety of products (defines the tasks, powers and organisation)

• provides measures with the purpose to ensure that producers and distributors comply with their obligations and that dangerous products are eliminated from the market

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Market surveillance in the field of general product safety (GPS)

1. The President of the OCCP: measures

2. The Trade Inspection : controls

(16 regional offices with the co-ordination on the central level)

In addition:

• The Council of Ministers (legislation),

• The Ministry of Health (consumers’ accidents).

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Market surveillance in the field of general product safety (GPS)

LEGAL INSTRUMENTS

• adequate measures (alerting consumers, withdrawal from the market,

recall from consumers, destruction of dangerous product, safety

instruction)

• proportionality of measures

• preferences for voluntary action of producers and distributors

• legal basis for urgent Community actions (art. 13)

• publicly available register of dangerous products

• legal basis for RAPEX

• penal provisions

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Market surveillance in the field of general product safety (GPS)

20042004• Trade Inspection: 2 300 controls,

10 000 products examined

• OCCP: 106 cases examined

• 63 investigations (administrative proceedings)

• 55 voluntary actions taken by producers,

9 decisions of the OCCP

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Market surveillance in the field of general product safety (GPS)

2004 investigations – types of products

others3

electrical products

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toys - 6

simple tools - 6

furnitures10

childcare products

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lighters14

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Market surveillance in the field of general product safety (GPS)

2004 cases – sources of information

companies9%

others11%

consumers18%

Trade Inspection

62%

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Market surveillance in the field of general product safety (GPS)

2004

• 3 joint surveillance projects – NETWORK (candles, high chairs, baby beds)

• PROSAFE project on the concept of serious risk

• 15 notification from producers on dangerous products

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NEW

APPROACH

DIRECTIVES

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

• HORIZONTAL LEGISLATION – HORIZONTAL LEGISLATION – Parliamentary ActParliamentary Act

• SECONDARY LEGISLATION –SECONDARY LEGISLATION –

transposition of specific provisions of transposition of specific provisions of DirectivesDirectives

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

HORIZONTAL LEGISLATION

• definitions

• notified bodies, accreditation, designation, notification

• CE marking

• harmonized standards

• market surveillance

• penalties

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

HORIZONTAL LEGISLATION - MARKET SURVEILLANCE

•authorities competent to monitor the compliance with NAD (tasks, powers and organisation, co-operation with customs)

• application of measures• uniformed procedure for controls • information for consumers / users (register)• internal exchange of information• protection of CE marking

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

• The President of the OCCP The President of the OCCP is responsible for monitoring the system

• Inspections:Inspections:

1) the Trade Inspection

2) the Labour Inspection

3) the President of the State Mining Authority

4) the President of the Office for Telecommunication and Post

Regulation

5) the President of the Office for Railway Transport

6) construction control authorities

7) the Inspection for Environmental Protection

8) Maritime Offices

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

OCCPOCCP• contact point for campaigns concerning product

safety and other requirements• RAPEX contact point• co-ordination of controls• statistics and information• reporting to the Council of Ministers• international co-operation• concordats with Inspections and customs

administration on co-operation and Steering Committee

• register of non-compliant products

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

Inspections - CONTROL POWERS

•request information

•ask for documents and explanations

•take samples of products for testing

•test the products

•apply measures

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Preference for voluntary measures

before applying any measures, Authority sets a

time limit for the producer to voluntarily :

– make product compliant with the essential make product compliant with the essential

requirements orrequirements or

– withdraw product from the marketwithdraw product from the market

Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

Measures

• withdrawal from the market

• recall from consumers

• ban on placing products on the market

• destruction of the product

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Products not compliant with specific safety requirements

Other Products

Products not compliant

with essential requirements

Dangerous products

IH

PIP

customs authority

GUNB

UM

UTK

WUG

URTiP

IOŚ OO

CC

CC

PP

Publicly

available data

data available

only for

inspections

Market Surveillance - Flow of information

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

20042004• new inspectors employed• adequate finance resources for training and

controls • 1000 inspectors trained by OCCP and many

more internally by Inspections (training programs)

• customs officers trainning programme• IT system (data base and statistics)• publications and training materials for

inspectors

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

May - DecemberMay - December ofof 2004 – results2004 – results (provisional data)

• 6 200 controls (reactive and pro-active campaigns)• 13 000 products controlled• 560 products questioned (mostly

documentation, marking and safety instructions)

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

20052005• CE campaign for consumers

• 8500 controls planned (+ interventions)

• more training

• new publications (horizontal, LVD, Toys, machinery, others)

• International projects (e.g.: PPE guide, SOGS, Baltic Initiative)

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

• horizontal legislation - easy to use for inspectors and industry

• uniformly high level of enforcement• transparency of the system• sharing of resources: joint actions,

common trainings• avoiding unnecessary duplications• common approach to problems

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Market Surveillance forNew Approach Directives

• uniformed criteria for designation of NB• eased external co-operation (EC, customs,

international programmes) • contact point for industry and consumers• easy access to information and statistics• consumer protection considered as a

whole (NAD + GPSD)

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Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1

00 – 950 Warsaw

Tel. (48-22) 55 60 390

Fax. (48-22) 827 03 04

www.uokik.gov.pl

e – mail: ddz@uokik.gov.pl

The Office for Competition and

Consumers’ Protection