Commission Decision of 16 December 2009 laying down guidelines for the management of the Community Rapid Information System ‘RAPEX’ established under Article 12 and of the notification procedure established under Article 11 of Directive 2001/95/EC (the General Product Safety Directive) (notified under document C(2009) 9843) (2010/15/EU) (repealed)

1. Introduction

1.1. Objectives of RAPEX

Article 12 of the GPSD establishes a Community Rapid Information System (‘RAPEX’).

RAPEX was established in order to:

• provide a rapid information exchange mechanism between Member States and the Commission on preventive and restrictive measures taken in relation to consumer products posing a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers;

• inform Member States and the Commission of the conclusions of follow-up action taken by national authorities with regard to information exchanged through RAPEX.

RAPEX plays an important role in the area of product safety; it complements other action taken both at national and at European level to ensure a high level of consumer safety in the EU.

RAPEX data help to:

• prevent and restrict the supply to consumers of dangerous products;

• monitor the effectiveness and consistency of market surveillance and enforcement activities carried out by Member State authorities;

• identify needs and provide a basis for action at EU level;

• make for consistent enforcement of the EU product safety requirements and thus the smooth functioning of the internal market.

1.2. Components of RAPEX

RAPEX consists of several complementary components, which are crucial for effective and efficient operation. The most important are:

• the legal framework, which regulates how the system operates (i.e. the GPSD and the Guidelines);

• the on-line application (‘RAPEX application’), which allows Member States and the Commission to exchange information rapidly via a web-based platform;

• the RAPEX Contact Points network, which consists of the single RAPEX Contact Points responsible for operating RAPEX in all the Member States;

• the national RAPEX networks established in all Member States, which include the RAPEX Contact Point and all the authorities involved in ensuring consumer product safety;

• the Commission RAPEX Team in the department responsible for the GPSD, which examines and validates documents submitted through RAPEX, and maintains and ensures correct operation of the RAPEX system;

• the RAPEX website(1), which provides summaries of RAPEX notifications in application of Article 16(1) of the GPSD;

• RAPEX publications, such as RAPEX statistics, RAPEX annual reports and other promotional materials.

(1)

www.ec.europa.eu/rapex