The Official Journal publishes on January 26th 2010 the guidelines for the management of the Community Rapid Information System, RAPEX, laid down by Commission Decision of December 16th 2009. These guidelines aim at facilitating the operation of RAPEX and the notification procedure under the General Product Safety Directive, Directive 2001/95/EC.

The Guidelines for the management of the Community Rapid Information System RAPEX set forth by Commission Decision of December 16th 2009,  form a self-standing document that governs the RAPEX notification procedure established under Article 12 of the General Product Safety Directive, GPSD. This procedure applies to preventive and restrictive measures taken in relation to consumer products posing a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers.

The Guidelines are addressed to all the authorities of Member States acting in the consumer product safety area and participating in the RAPEX network, including market surveillance authorities responsible for monitoring the compliance of consumer products with safety requirements, and authorities in charge of external border controls.

Objectives of the Guidelines for the management of RAPEX

• Clarify the scope of the two notification mechanisms
• Set out the notification criteria for the two notification mechanisms define the content of notifications and reactions sent under the two notification mechanisms, in particular what data are required and forms to be used
• Establish follow-up action to be taken by Member States upon receipt of a notification and the type of information to be provided
• Describe the handling of notifications and reactions by the Commission
• Set deadlines for the various types of action taken under the two notification mechanisms
• Set out the practical and technical arrangements needed at Commission and Member State levels for the notification mechanisms to be employed effectively and efficiently
• Establish a risk assessment method and, in particular, criteria for identifying serious risks

Under the GPSD, the participation of Member States in RAPEX is mandatory, and thus Member States have a legal obligation to notify the Commission when the product is a consumer product, it is subject to measures that prevent, restrict or impose specific conditions on its possible marketing or use (‘preventive and restrictive measures’), it as product which poses a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers, and the serious risk has a cross-border effect.

According to the 2008 RAPEX annual report published in April 2009, there is a significant increase in dangerous products removed from the EU following GPSD rules. These notifications for removal  affect in several cases products such as toys, electrical appliances and motor vehicles, and a large number of cases for withdrawal are also related to products of Chinese origin.