Product Safety Checklist

Introduction

This factsheet has been produced to assist all those in the chain of distribution satisfy themselves that all the key elements of the EU’s product safety system have been put in place. This use of the checklist will help ensure that no important elements are overlooked.

Using the Checklist

All products on the EU market must be safe. This is a shared responsibility for all actors involved in the distribution chain, but the manufacturer is the one who will have the biggest influence on the safety of a product. If the manufacturer gets it right from the beginning, then the other actors merely have to ensure that their activities don’t compromise the product safety.

If the manufacturer is located outside the EU, then the importer, the trader or the online seller are best suited for checking that the manufacturer fulfils his obligations. (The importer and the online seller are even obliged to do this.)

This checklist can facilitate such checks. It describes what an importer, a trader or an online seller should check when they trade a product. The list applies a two-layer approach whereby the business can start with some initial checks (the “first level test”). If the product passes these checks, it would normally be a good indication that the product is OK and that further investigation most likely will not uncover errors. If the checks give rise to suspicion, then the checklist includes a number of “second level tests” allowing a more thorough examination of the documentation and the product.

Please note that these investigations cannot replace the conformity assessment of the product that the manufacturer must undertake. The investigations can merely give an indication that the manufacturer has fulfilled his obligations correctly.