The number of dangerous consumer products notified through the EU's rapid alert system for non-food dangerous products RAPEX rose by 7% in 2009 compared to 2008, as shows the Commission's annual RAPEX report. This rise from 1866 notifications in 2008 to 1993 last year shows that the capacity of the RAPEX system has increased again in 2009, following more effective market surveillance by Member States.

The total number of notifications distributed through the RAPEX system has risen gradually since 2004 (when the General Product Safety Directive, was transposed into the national laws by Member States). In this sixth year, the number of notifications has more than quadrupled from 468 (in 2004) to 1993 (in 2009). In 2009, the number of notifications rose by 7% compared to 2008, when 1.866 RAPEX notifications were registered.

The growth in RAPEX notifications, and the increased capacity of the system, is a result of:

• More effective product safety enforcement by national authorities.
• More efficient investment of resources.
• Greater awareness among businesses of their obligations.
• Enhanced cooperation with third countries.
• Network-building actions and training across Member States coordinated by the European Commission.

As regards the countries of origin, the number of notifications on products from China sent through RAPEX showed a slow increase (of 1%, from 59% in 2008 to 60% in 2009. There was a decrease in the number of notifications which did not contain information about the country of origin of the notified product.

All countries contribute to RAPEX

All EU countries participated in the RAPEX system by detecting and notifying new dangerous products and ensuring appropriate follow-up actions to the information received. Half of the countries further increased their activities in the system and notified more dangerous products than in 2008. In January 2010, the OJEU published a series of guidelines for the functioning of RAPEX and for the participation of all Member States.

The countries making most notifications were Spain (220 notifications), Germany (187 notifications), Greece (154 notifications), Bulgaria (122 notifications) and Hungary (119 notifications). Notifications sent by these countries represent 47% of all notifications on products posing a serious risk sent via the system.

Toys (472 notifications), clothing and textiles (395 notifications) and motor vehicles (146 notifications) accounted for 60% of all notifications on products posing a serious risk in 2009. Electrical appliances (138 notifications) became the fourth most frequently notified category of product.