To mark International Product Safety Week which starts today, as well as World Standards Day 2012, ANEC urges the European Institutions and Member States to create an EU-wide system of home and leisure accident statistics, aided and funded by the Commission. We further urge Member States to be required to contribute to the establishment of the database and its regular updating.

“At the moment, no more than 13 of the 27 Member States are known to collect injury data through hospitals, although not always in a regular and consistent way” said ANEC Secretary-General, Stephen Russell. “Accident and injury data is essential in the setting of product safety priorities, the development of policy and determination of preventive actions. For instance, reliable and consistent data would give a clear indication as to whether the frequency of injuries and accidents involving a certain product has decreased following the introduction of a new or revised regulation or standard. It could also enable suppliers to improve the safety of their products and help market surveillance authorities to target resources in an improved focus of their surveillance plans and strategies”.

Ahead of his participation in the International Symposium of ICPHSO, Mr Russell added, “The efficiency of the legal frameworks of the New Approach and General Product Safety Directive (GPSD) depends on the ability of the Commission and Member States to identify and recognise problems associated with unsafe consumer products. Such problems can be identified only through a regular surveillance of home and leisure accident data. We know that several other stakeholders share ANEC’s concerns and we call on all interested parties to use the opportunity provided by the upcoming revision of the GPSD to have such a system detailed in legislation. We also propose that the system be financed by the fines inflicted on rogue market operators placing unsafe products on the market. Market surveillance must pay for more market surveillance”.

To read the full text, please see the attached document.