In three years, 118 notifications about dangerous products

The State Inspectorate has published 118 notifications to consumers about dangerous products in three years, the State Inspectorate announced today in a statement regarding the RAPEX system.

Namely, the RAPEX system operates in the unique internal market of the EU for the rapid exchange of official notifications regarding measures and actions for non-food products that pose a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers, allowing consumers to be timely informed about non-food products that pose a risk to human health, safety, the environment, etc.

The Croatian Government, based on the Law on General Product Safety, adopted the Regulation on the Notification Exchange System regarding products that pose a risk to the health and safety of consumers in 2009, which prescribes the procedure and content of the rapid exchange system for notifications about dangerous products (RAPEX). This Regulation comes into force on the day of Croatia’s accession to the EU, and the State Inspectorate reminds that, without waiting for that date, they have systematically worked for years to enhance various consumer protections regarding non-food products.

The first RAPEX notification about a product that poses a serious danger to the health and safety of consumers and other users was published by the State Inspectorate to Croatian consumers more than three years ago, on April 1, 2010.

Since then, the State Inspectorate has, based on conducted inspections according to the Law on General Product Safety and special regulations, discovered and published a total of 118 notifications about dangerous non-food products on the Croatian market via its website, the statement notes, adding that the Inspectorate has published all information it had regarding the identification of such products, the nature of the danger, and the measures taken.

The most notifications about dangerous products were issued by the State Inspectorate for children’s clothing and footwear (51 products), children’s equipment and products for children (17), and household appliances (15), but it also informed about other non-food products that it discovered on the Croatian market that posed a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers (electrical products, imitation food, audiovisual equipment, etc.), the Inspectorate emphasizes.

The statement recalls that the first RAPEX notification from the Inspectorate (from April 2010) concerned a children’s walker that did not meet safety requirements and was considered a dangerous product because its use could easily lead to injuries to children from falling out of the walker. At that time, based on the Inspectorate’s call for cooperation, the importer in Croatia voluntarily ceased further import, sale, and offering of that product, and consumers were warned to stop using it, that they could return it and exchange it for another product or request a refund.

The latest notification was published a few days ago and concerns soap – imitation food which was found to resemble a piece of cake in shape, with a fruity smell, color, volume, and size, representing a dangerous imitation of a product that confuses consumers, especially children, into mistaking it for food, which can cause choking or serious problems in the digestive system. The State Inspectorate prohibited the marketing of this product and ordered its withdrawal and destruction, instructed the manufacturer to publish an advertisement in daily newspapers, and the manufacturer ceased production of this product and complied with the State Inspectorate’s decision, the statement concludes.