Kuneva seeks allies for safety crusade

Meglena Kuneva, the European commissioner for consumer protection, has urged national governments to back her product safety campaign.

In a letter sent to industry ministers ahead of their meeting in Brussels next week (27-28 September), she asks for ‘personal commitment’ to current stocktaking exercises aimed at tightening controls.

"In enforcement, we are only as strong as the weakest link on the chain," she says in the letter, which was sent this week (17 September). "The task now is to reinforce any parts of the chain where implementation or enforcement are not optimal."

National watchdogs were last month asked to step up surveillance measures. The moves followed a number of ‘Made in China’ safety scares. Progress reports are to be submitted to the European Commission ahead of a meeting on 3 October of the general product safety committee, the EU aggregation of national safety watchdogs.

This month the toymaker Mattel was forced, for the third time this year, to issue a large-scale recall of tainted toys made in China. Kuneva responded by launching an intensive two-month review of safety rules to assess the need for tighter controls and fast-track EU policing procedures.

A Commission official said: "This is politically very important to the Commission. She [Kuneva] wants ministers to take this seriously. She wants to show that this is more than just an academic exercise."

One of the commissioner’s main priorities at next week’s meeting will be to persuade ministers to withdraw amendments to new rules governing the circulation of goods on the internal market. The rules, unveiled in February, include safety measures for industrial and consumer goods. Amendments introduced by member states and MEPs would introduce a single policing system for both categories of goods. Kuneva wants to persuade member states to return to the Commission’s original proposals that provide for separate controls.

Moves to reopen the debate on the rules could be controversial. Finnish centre-right MEP Alexander Stubb, vice-chairman of Parliament’s internal market and consumer protection committee (IMCO), warned against over-reaction. "We have to calm down, analyse and hold our horses. The goods package is being mixed up in the debate on the safety of toys." Toy safety, he said, was adequately addressed in the general product safety directive and the toys directive, which set out common safety standards.

Kuneva will be questioned by IMCO next week (25 September). MEPs want to know whether the CE quality control mark, allowing circulation of goods in the EU without inspection, can still be trusted. They also want to know whether a specific mark is needed for toys and whether any bans are forthcoming. They will demand that Kuneva speeds up her review of the toy safety law and request details on EU-US co-operation on the issue.

Bryan Stockton, the vice-president of Mattel International, is to meet Kuneva in Brussels today (20 September).

Meglena Kuneva, the European commissioner for consumer protection, has urged national governments to back her product safety campaign.