ETICS Seminar on Counterfeit and Market Surveillance - Prague 2016
T
he 2016 ETICS General Meetings Workshop, hosted by EZU, took place in Prague on Thursday 14th April 2016.
T
he 2016 ETICS General Meetings Workshop, hosted by EZU, took place in Prague on Thursday 14th April 2016. ETICS brought together EU officials, EUROPOL, market surveillance Authorities, Manufacturer, Consumers, Retailers and Certification Bodies to discuss current issues in the field of market surveillance and counterfeiting and to explore ways for future cooperation. The event was a success, with over 60 attendees. What ETICS and the TIC Sector are trying to achieve in servicing third party conformity assessments is for the common good, however if we don’t act together we could become collateral damage.
However, without effective market surveillance we can’t be effective. Why not? Because it is human nature to cut corners or even cheat if there is no danger of being caught. We humans are greedy beings and effective policing is necessary to ensure we do not stray.
Market surveillance is a difficult issue however. As we all know it is an individual EU member state responsibility, there is little central control or coordination. We therefore have 28 differing funding mechanisms and a bewildering array of market surveillance authorities or delivery mechanisms across the EU.
It is often argued that the reason we do not have effective market surveillance is because we are short of resources. I’d argue differently. We lack coordination of those resources we do have, and we lack a policy. Could anyone here draw a diagram of the EU market surveillance system? Even based on only those organisations we have heard from today? I know I couldn’t.
Pierre de RUVO, Secretary General and CEO of ETICS
Marcello MANCA is the VP of Government & Industry Affairs, Europe. He has worked in the field of Conformity Assessment since 1981. M. Manca is the founder of Electro Service Italia, a safety testing and consulting company servicing industries from appliance, lighting and information technology to industrial control equipment. In 1998, UL acquired Electro Services Italia to create UL Italia.
Marcello’s presentation core message: “Data is evidently showing that the TIC industry plays a major role in decreasing risk for manufacturers and importers, avoiding serious injuries and fires for consumers worldwide, and providing a platform for market uniformity. The numbers are real, and they can easily be translated in number of lives saved, property losses avoided, social costs not incurred: the suggestion for regulators and legislators is to welcome the TIC sector to the dialogue tables, so that the European (and other) conformity assessment framework can be reviewed, corrected, and improved. The TIC industry is ready to help and support any effort that will help reduce the number of seriously non-conforming products that can fall in the hands of European consumers.”
Jan DECONINCK is the current Chairman of the Product Safety Enforcement Forum of Europe “Prosafe”. This is a non-profit organisation established by market surveillance officers from various countries throughout the European Economic Area. Joint Market Surveillance Actions coordinated by PROSAFE are primarily funded by the European Commission and EFTA.
Jan’s Presentation core message: “Market surveillance on consumer products is requested by industry and consumers alike and has a dual purpose: ensuring the free movement of goods through technical harmonisation and guaranteeing a high level of protection of public interest. The key principle of the legislative framework is the use of mandatory technical requirements and the setting up of appropriate assessment procedures to prove conformity to these requirements. To ensure the correct application of these principles in the real world, they have to be monitored by competent national authorities. The main challenges for these authorities are: diminishing resources (both human and financial), limited testing capabilities and a diversity of interpretation and application of the legal requirements,
Pierre SELVA is currently the Schneider Electric’s Director for Conformity Assessment and Market Surveillance subjects. Pierre is currently the alternate member for France at the CAB and IECEE levels. He also holds the position of IECEE Treasurer from January 1st 2016 and he’s involved in several Working Groups of CAB and IECEE.
Pierre’s presentation core message: “This presentation aims to emphasize the threat of counterfeited and unauthorized use of conformity marks on PRODUCTS, CERTIFICATES and DOCUMENTATION, not only in Europe, but also at the worldwide scale. It does not address the fair competition between different conformity marks coming or not from outside of Europe. It’s a manufacturer view, and we believe this threat could have strong impact on your (certification bodies) business. The main interest of this presentation is to raise awareness on this issue, and to propose some ways of solutions. Conformity marks are in the heart of our business as manufacturers and they bring some values that are of huge importance:
-
Safety of the products
-
Specifics requirements not covered by safety standards
-
Development of confidence between economic operators
-
Increase of our statements credibility
-
And at least, it’s a lasting investment from manufacturers to convince our customers
CALENDAR OF MEETING
-
APRIL 2021
OSM EE
13-14 April
Web-ConferenceGeneral Meetings ETICS, ENEC, CCA and HAR
27-28 April
Web-Conference27 April
HAR Group Meeting Part A
HAR Group Meeting Part B
MCCB Restricted Session
28 April
MCCB Open Session
ETICS General Assembly -
MAY 2021
OSM LUM
17-18 May
Web-Conference -
JUNE 2021
ETICS Board of Directors
22 June
23 June
Web-Conference -
SEPTEMBER 2021
OSM FIP
7-8 September
• Day 1 (September 7): Two sessions (09:00 – 10:30 and 11:00 – 12:30)
• Day 2 (September 8): Two sessions (09:00 – 10:30 and 11:00 – 12:30) (if needed)
Web-ConferenceETICS IPC Inspection Policy Committee
14-15 September
Web-ConferenceOSM HAR
21-22 SeptemberETICS TPC Technical Policy Committee
28-29 September
Brussels (if travel permits)
Web-Conference (otherwise) -
OCTOBER 2021
OSM HA
OSM IN
19-20 October -
FEBRUARY 2021
ETICS TPC Technical Policy Committee
16 February: 13:00-17:00
17 February: 09:00-13:00
Web-ConferenceETICS Board of Directors
23 February: 13:00-17:00
24 February: 09:00-13:00
Web-Conference -
MARCH 2021
ETICS IPC Inspection Policy Committee
Part I-Session: 3 March: 14:00 - 18:00 (Open)
Part II-Session: 4 March: 09:00 - 13:00 (IPC Members only)
Part II-Session: 5 March: 09:00 - 13:00 (Might be skipped if not needed)
Web-Conference -
NOVEMBER 2020
HAR WG1
03 November, 13:00-15:00
ETICS Head Office, BrusselsHAR WG SI
03 November, 15:00-17:00
ETICS Head Office, Brussels