The Commission of the European Union (EU) has released statistics on notices of unsafe consumer products that have been processed through the EU’s rapid information system (RAPEX) during December 2010.
According to the Commission’s report, 193 validated notifications of unsafe products (those posing either serious or moderate risk) were processed through the RAPEX system during the month. This compares with just 165 reports of unsafe products processed through the system during the comparable period in 2009.
Of the notifications received during the period, 72 (43%) were related to clothing, textiles and fashion items, with an additional 37 (22%) related to toys, and 9 (5%) related to electrical and electronic equipment, including electrical appliances, lighting equipment, and communications and media equipment. The risk of electric shock and fire was identified in 10 of the notifications (5%).
Regarding the country of origin identified in connection with products posing a serious safety risk, more than half of all notifications (105, or 63%) were related to products originating from China, including Hong Kong. Another 31 notifications (19%) of unsafe products originated in EU Member States. Fifteen notifications (9%) failed to identify any country of origin.
View the complete text of the EU Commission’s updated report on RAPEX statistics.
