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.
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.
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. 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 commented: "UNE's Market Surveillance Observatory shows once again this year that compliance with technical standards and legislation is essential. I would like to draw attention to one aspect of this Report: the need for greater controls on marketplaces, online sales channels where the largest number of unsafe or faulty products is concentrated.”
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).
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This fourth edition of the report includes new content relating to: new General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR); new Product Liability Directive; proposal to amend the Toy Safety Directive; RoHS Single Point of Entry; and Regulation (EU) 2019/515 on the mutual recognition of goods legally marketed in another Member State.
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.
Public administrations: Autonomous Communities, Community of Madrid, Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030, Ministry of Industry and Tourism, 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 (SGEFE) 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).
