EU report
More than 2000 dangerous products reported
According to EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, the products complained about were mainly about recalls due to technical problems. Photo: Johanna Geron/Pool Reuters/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The new stuffed animal should bring joy, but what if it suddenly disintegrates and there is a risk of suffocation? Unsafe products keep flooding the markets in Germany and the EU.
A coffee pot that emits chemicals or a night light for children that can cause an electric shock: last year, European countries issued 2,142 warnings about dangerous products.
More than a quarter of the cases involved cars and other motorized vehicles (26 percent), which topped the list as a product category for the first time. It was mainly about recalls due to technical problems, as EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders said in Brussels on Monday.
EU has a rapid alert system
Around 30 European countries and the EU Commission exchange information about products in the EU rapid warning system for dangerous non-food products. In this way, other countries can quickly check whether products are also circulating on the domestic market and, for example, initiate recalls. In 2020, 2253 cases were reported, similar to 2021.
In every fifth case (20 percent) from the past year, children’s toys were affected, in which dangerous chemicals in particular were discovered. Reynders also gave the example of a night light whose cable was not processed solidly. This could lead to an electric shock. Children are particularly vulnerable to toys that aren’t well built or designed, Reynders said. “The risk they have is much greater than that of an adult.” Another example is a stork cuddly toy that is easy to detach from its eyes. Children could choke on it, says Reynders.
At the forefront: masks
There are also more and more warnings about products in connection with the Corona crisis. Masks are at the forefront, accounting for six percent of the total number of warnings this year. These were leaky or poisonous.
In the future, the EU Commission wants to focus more on online platforms in order to better protect consumers and take dangerous products off the market. A new electronic surveillance tool will be introduced to help national authorities track down unsafe products, Reynders said.
The EU consumer association Beuc sees a warning in the report by the EU Commission. “Year after year we see these discouraging results. It is simply unacceptable that European consumers risk buying products that could harm them and their families,” said CEO Monique Goyens.