Product safety

European and Polish legislation ensure a high and uniform level of consumer health and safety protection.

A manufacturer may place a product on the EU market only if the product is safe, i.e. meets all the applicable requirements in this regard. EU regulations provide for this purpose a so-called conformity assessment procedure, which is carried out before a product is first placed on the European market. Conformity assessment includes testing, inspection and certification. Its task is to demonstrate that the product meets all requirements. The procedure for each product is specified in the applicable regulations for that product. Conformity assessment is designed to ensure the confidence of consumers, public authorities and manufacturers in the conformity and safety of products. Confirmation of a positive assessment of the goods is the placement of the EU CE mark on the goods, which confirms the fulfillment of all EU requirements for the product. After such an assessment, the manufacturer issues a so-called declaration of conformity, which is signed in each case by persons representing the producer in question.

Conformity assessment is complementary to market surveillance. Both of these systems help ensure the smooth functioning of the internal market and ensure that as few dangerous or non-compliant products as possible reach the European market.

Market surveillance ensures that products available on the EU market do not endanger consumers and workers. It also ensures the protection of other public interests, such as the environment, safety and fairness in trade. It includes actions such as recalls, withdrawals and sanctions to stop the circulation of non-compliant products and/or bring them into compliance.

Market surveillance is crucial to the smooth functioning of the single market.

Products released for sale in the internal market must meet the requirements set forth in the EU’s 2001/95/EC Directive on General Product Safety. Other pieces of legislation that introduce product safety requirements for household appliances are the so-called Low Voltage Directive (2014/35/EU), Magnetic Field Emissions Directive C (2014/30/EU) and the 2014/53/EU, Radio Equipment Directive.

In addition, manufacturers are required to:

• provide the consumer with information useful for assessing typical risks associated with the use of the product if they are not readily apparent,
• take appropriate measures to avoid risks (e.g., recall the product from sale, warn consumers, remind product owners of risks, etc.).
• test the product, issue appropriate documentation, and confirm on the product or packaging that the device in question has been manufactured in accordance with the essential requirements.

Both in Poland and throughout the European Union there is a system of harmonization of technical law, which allows the free circulation of goods that meet the essential requirements for the safety of products for humans and the environment. This system is called the “New Approach” and its basic elements are directives issued by the European Commission. “New Approach” directives are legal regulations mandatory for implementation by all EU members, designed to create a unified system of regulations to eliminate technical barriers. In Poland, the most important legal act that transposes the New Approach Directives into national law is the Act on the conformity assessment system of April 1, 2016. On the other hand, the essential requirements and conformity assessments from individual directives are contained in regulations issued on the basis of the Act on the Conformity Assessment System and other acts (e.g. on construction products, on rail transport). The provisions of the Law on Conformity Assessment do not apply to medical devices. Some of the “new approach” directives also take into account the principles of the “global approach” to conformity assessment. The global approach specifies the main elements of testing and certification, the rules for the designation of bodies participating in the assessment of products, and unifies the rules for affixing and CE marking. The New Approach Directives apply to products that are to be placed on the market and put into service for the first time. They are limited only to the essential requirements, formulated to ensure a high level of protection. The manufacturer is obliged to meet the essential requirements, self-declares the product’s compliance with the requirements and is responsible for the accuracy of this declaration. The manufacturer’s fulfillment of the essential requirements gives him the opportunity to place the product on the European market. The method of meeting the essential requirements is left to the discretion of the manufacturer. The manufacturer has a choice, they can produce the product and check its compliance directly with the directive, or they can produce the product in accordance with a harmonized standard that provides a presumption of conformity with the directive. The exception to this general rule is the Construction Products Directive, where demonstrating compliance with the essential requirements of the directive forces the application of the requirements of both the directive and the specific requirements contained in harmonized standards or technical approvals.

“Standards” are technical specifications of a non-mandatory nature adopted by recognized standards bodies for repeated or continuous use.

“Harmonized standards” are ‘European standards’ prepared at the request of the European Commission for the application of EU harmonization legislation. Harmonized standards are also not mandatory.

Harmonized standards are developed by European standardization bodies, such as: European Committee for Standardization (Comité Européen de Normalisation, CEN), European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (Comité Européen de Normalisation Electrotechnique, CENELEC) and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) under a mandate from the European Commission. These organizations create draft standards and then consult with member states.

In Poland, the institution dealing with these issues is the Polish Committee for Standardization (Polski Komitet Normalizacyjny – PKN), which – after receiving a draft European standard – consults it with interested market players, such as manufacturers’ associations, consumer federations, certification bodies, etc. The procedure takes about 5 months, and each country has a certain number of votes in the standardization committee at the European level. The standard enters into force after a majority of countries approve it, and then the European Commission publishes its number. In practice, specific so-called technical committees (TCs) made up of representatives of companies and organizations handle the votes in PKN. European standards have an EN designation. In order to be recognized as an official European harmonized standard, at least one Member State must adopt it into a set of national standards.

For household appliances, there are about 100 standards that regulate the safety of use. The basic general standard is EN 60335-1, to which standards are issued for specific product groups (EN 60335-2-xxx).

Standards related to the safety of household appliance products are conducted by Technical Committee No. 63 of the Polish Technical Committee. APPLIA Polska participates in the work of this committee as well.