Consumption and the Tax Agency reinforce border control of unsafe products
Thanks to an agreement signed today between the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs and the State Tax Administration Agency
- This initiative is part of the "plan of measures for the safety and control of consumer products on the market" presented last November by the Minister of Health and Consumption, Bernat Soria
- The National Consumer Institute will inform the Customs Department of the companies that imported alerted products during the last two years
- There will be a list of products that require CE marking and other documentary requirements may be requested and specific controls may be carried out on certain consumer products.
- The Customs Department will include the identification of importers considered at risk in its analysis systems
- So far in 2008, there have been 712 notifications of non-EU products, 64.37% of all those registered.
June 24, 2008. Consumer authorities and the Tax Agency continue to work to increase the safety of citizens and have agreed on new measures to prevent unsafe products from entering our country. These products mainly come from third countries and are introduced into our market across EU borders, in violation of relevant European regulations.
The initiative is part of the “Plan of measures for the safety and control of consumer products on the market” presented last November by the Minister of Health and Consumption, Bernat Soria, and has the support of the Sectoral Conference on Consumption, the highest body of institutional cooperation between the State and the Autonomous Communities in this area.
The measures adopted are intended to prevent events such as those that occurred last year when the withdrawal from the market of certain products that compromised consumer safety created social alarm, especially those aimed at children, one of the most vulnerable sectors of the population.
AGREEMENT
On this basis and with the aim of maximising consumer safety, today an agreement was signed by the Director General of Consumer Affairs and Citizen Services and Director of the National Consumer Institute (INC), Etelvina Andreu, and the Director of the Customs and Special Taxes Department of the State Tax Administration Agency, Nicolás Bonilla. These bodies depend, respectively, on the Ministries of Health and Consumption and Economy and Finance.
This agreement creates a system aimed, on the one hand, at increasing the exchange of information on certain unsafe consumer products and, on the other, at verifying that imported products have the necessary documentation to guarantee compliance with current legislation for their commercialization in the national market.
CONTROL ACTIONS
In the specific field of control actions in Customs, the following are contemplated:
- Determination of risk importers
The INC will inform Customs of all the data it has on companies whose products have been repeatedly included in the RAPEX in the same year. The list of these companies will be updated periodically, at least once a year.
The Customs Department will include the Tax Identification Numbers of these companies in its risk analysis systems to carry out the corresponding filters.
- Determination of products requiring CE marking
The INC will draw up a list of products that require this marking at the time of import and will regularly send the list of new products included in the list to the Customs Department.
Based on this list, Customs will establish a system of filters to control these products, in accordance with the tariff classification of the goods.
- Demand for additional requirements to the CE marking
The INC will analyze the opportunity to require documentary requirements (declaration of conformity or technical dossier) for imported products.
- Determination of risk products by alert
Customs will establish control filters based on the information received and, if it discovers alerted merchandise, as stipulated in Regulation (EEC) No. 339/1993, it will retain the merchandise, notify the INC and, if appropriate, prohibit the import,
- Specific controls on certain consumer products
Based on the communications received, the INC will determine the products with a risk alert and will inform Customs, providing all the data and elements that allow for better identification of the products, as well as the criteria regarding the elements that may make the product unsafe.
For their part, for as long as deemed necessary, the customs office or customs offices affected will carry out physical controls on the products considered.
- Non-compliances
In general, if, as a result of the controls, non-compliance is found in the tests carried out by the INC, or the product does not have a CE marking or has been imported by an importer classified as a risk, the procedure stipulated by the aforementioned Regulation 339/1993 will be applied.
Even if none of these breaches are observed, Customs will act in accordance with the aforementioned Regulation in the event that the product may be considered unsafe based on the instructions prepared by the INC.
If there is nothing relevant, Customs will grant the release of the merchandise and inform the INC.
MONITORING AND TRAINING
Furthermore, under the agreement, a Monitoring Committee is created, with equal representation and appointed by the parties, which will monitor its development, draw up schedules of specific control actions for certain products and will be responsible for resolving any doubts or differences of interpretation that may arise.
The Commission will also plan training activities to be developed jointly by the INC and the Tax Agency so that the latter's officials can expand their knowledge of the requirements for consumption of imported products. ALERT PRODUCTS FROM THIRD COUNTRIES
During recent years, more than half of the alerts generated in RAPEX were for products coming from countries outside the EU. In 2004, there were 334 such alerts (51.56% of the total), and in 2007 they reached 1,412, 63.47% of those reported last year.
So far in 2008, there have been 712 notifications of non-EU products, 64.37% of all those registered.
If we refer to the number of alerts issued since 2004 as a result of border controls, Spain, with 29, occupies second place among member countries, only surpassed by Finland, whose customs controls detected 49, and far behind the third place occupied by Hungary and Italy, with six each in the entire period. This demonstrates the efforts already made by customs authorities to ensure consumer safety.