- The goal of the UNE's MSO is to enhance public-private cooperation in market surveillance and to contribute to the marketing of compliant and safe products and services to ensure consumer protection and fair competition, as Alfredo Berges, chairman of UNE and its MSO, says in this video.
- A total of 580,297 items of industrial products were submitted for inspection in 2023, 96.6% of which were approved, in the following product groups: consumer textiles (254,902), consumer footwear (184,075), toys (60,525), furniture (54,761), small electrical material (20,466) and wood for use in construction (5,568).
- According to data from the Directorate-General for Consumer Affairs, 82.78% of the 45,075 tests carried out on samples of food and industrial products in 2023 complied with the applicable regulations. For non-compliant products, the most common defects were labelling and presentation, net contents of the package, safety and quality.
Madrid, 18 February 2025 – The Market Surveillance Observatory (MSO) of the Spanish Association for Standardisation, UNE, has published for the fourth consecutive year its annual market surveillance report, prepared in collaboration with more than 50 Spanish business organisations that are members of UNE, the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, and various authorities tasked with market surveillance.
Its goal is to enhance public-private cooperation, raise awareness of the importance of compliance with legislation and the technical requirements of standards and help prevent the marketing of unsafe or misleading products and services which harm the economy and consumers and lead to unfair competition and market distortion as Alfredo Berges, chair of UNE and its MSO, says in this video.
The 2024 Annual Market Surveillance Report includes data on the inspection actions undertaken in 2023. This activity encompasses surveillance on industrial products, including those intended for children, industrial household products and industrial products for professional use.
Daniel Arribas, the Director General of Consumer Affairs, said: “In recent years European consumer protection legislation has mushroomed, in keeping with the New European Consumer Agenda's goals and in response to the need for it to evolve to embrace new forms of marketing and the technologies associated with consumer products. I would like to underline UNE's role in helping to raise awareness in the sector of the new developments and challenges posed by these new standards and in conveying through its annual report the efforts made each year by public authorities in market surveillance.”
Alfredo Berges, chair of both UNE and its Market Surveillance Observatory, noted: "UNE's Market Surveillance Observatory once again shows that compliance with technical standards and legislation is essential for adequate protection of consumer health and safety and the environment and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market and business and industrial activity." "I would like to draw attention to one aspect of this 2024 Annual Report, the need for greater controls on marketplaces, online sales channels where the largest number of unsafe or faulty products is concentrated,” he added.
According to figures from the SOIVRE Inspection Service, a total of 580,297 items of industrial products were submitted for inspection in 2023, 96.6% of which were approved, in the following product groups: consumer textiles (254,902), consumer footwear (184,075), toys (60,525), furniture (54,761), small electrical material (20,466) and wood for use in construction (5,568). The main reasons for non-compliance were the lack of technical documentation to guarantee the safety of products, followed by non-compliance with the labelling and marking of products, and due to construction defects that cause non-compliance with the essential product requirements.
In addition, according to data from the Directorate-General for Consumer Affairs, the Quality Control and Research Centre (CICC) carried out 45,075 tests on samples of food and industrial products from national and regional market surveillance campaigns, EU campaigns and other official inspections, and concluded that 82.78% of these tests complied with applicable regulations. The most frequent defects identified for both product categories were labelling and presentation, net contents of the package, safety aspects and quality factors.
As for the Non-Food Consumer Product Alert Network system, in 2023 it managed 2,899 notifications, 475 of which were generated by Autonomous Communities while 2,424 were from the EU. Madrid was the Autonomous Community with the most notifications (106), followed by Galicia (91), Catalonia (65), Castilla-La Mancha (61) and Andalusia (38). Almost 49% of the products reported came from Asia.
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This fourth edition of the report includes new content relating to: the new General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), which ensures a high level of consumer protection and lays down essential rules on consumer product safety; the new Product Liability Directive, which aims to provide an EU-wide system for compensating people who suffer physical injury or damage to property as a result of defective products; the proposed amendment of the Toy Safety Directive which seeks to eliminate the large gap between responsible toy brands and those marketing seemingly similar products at lower prices but which are unsafe, especially through the online marketplace; the RoHS Single Point of Entry, which enables centralised and efficient access to information on restrictions of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment; Regulation (EU) 2019/515 on the mutual recognition of goods lawfully marketed in another Member State, which ensures that products can move freely between Member States once they have been placed on the EU market.
Another issue addressed is market surveillance of energy labelling. The energy label has promoted the development of more efficient and innovative products, reducing the energy use and running costs of household appliances.
The role of UNE member business organisations is key in this surveillance work as every year they run initiatives to identify products that do not comply with the applicable legislation, support public administration inspections and lead the creation of standards.
Members of the UNE Market Surveillance Observatory
Spanish business organizations: ADELMA, AECE, AEFECC, AEFJ, AEFYT, AENOR, AFBEL, AFEC, AFME, AGRIVAL, AIDIMME, AIJU, ANAIP, ANDIMAT, ANEFHOP, ANFACA, ANFALUM, ANFAPA, ANMOPYC, APPLIA ESPAÑA, APPLUS, ASEFAPI, ASEFAVE, ATEDY, CALSIDER, CEIS, CEM, CEPCO, CONAIF, ETIRA, F2I2, FACEL, FECE, FEDAOC, FEGECA, FEM-AEM, LOEMCO, OFICEMEN, PRYSMA, SEOPAN, SERCOBE, TECNALIA and TECNIFUEGO.
Government agencies: Autonomous Communities, Community of Madrid, Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, Ministry of Industry and Tourism, State Secretariat for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures (SETELECO), SOIVRE Inspection Service (S.I. SOIVRE) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Sub-Directorate General of Energy Efficiency (GEFE) of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge and Sub-Directorate General of Customs Management of the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT).
