CHILD SAFETY Czech Republic

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CHILD SAFETY (Czech Republic)

• Czech Consumers Association
• - Libor Dupal

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• Presentation Outline
• Legal framework
• Views and experience of authorities, operators
  and consumers
• Role of Standards

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Legal framework

• Act on General Product Safety
• Producers shall be obliged to place only safe
  products on the market
• European harmonizing directive fully transposed
  into the Czech law
• European / National Law
• European / National Standards
• Codes of good practice, state of the art and
  technology , consumers expectations

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Legal framework

• Specific sectoral regulations (1)
• Government Orders (impl. Act 22/1997 Coll. On
  Technical Requirements for Products)
• on Toys Safety (EU requirements)
• - Harmonized standards presumption of
  conformity
• - CE marking
• on Facilities for Playgrounds (national
  requirements)
• - National requirements

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Legal framework

• Specific sectoral regulations (2)
• Ministerial Decree (impl. Act 258/2000 Coll. on
  Public Health Protection)
• on hygienic requirements for toys and products
  for children up to the 3 years of age (EU
  national requirements)

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Legal framework

• Products not covered by any special sectoral
  regulation concerning design
• Shoes
• Cots (junior beds)
• Prams (perambulators)
• Baby-walkers, etc.
• General product safety applied European and
  pure national standards

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Views and experience (1)

• Ministry
• Harmonization at EU level (new approach
  directive harmonized standard)
• Conformity Assessment Body
• Good situation in regulated area, bad knowledge
  of situation under GPS (non regulated area),
  however standard(s) exists

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Views and experience (2)

• Producer (textile toys and products)
• Government order on toys, harmonized CSN-EN
  applied (71),
• Repeated testing and certification procedures,
• System functional, no problems with products on
  the market.
• Market surveillance findings
• Nearly 30 of controlled products- unsafe
• Voluntary standards are not sufficient instrument
  to enforce observing the law.

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Views and experience (3)

• Consumer
• Confused that CE marked product may be unsafe,
• Not informed appropriately, whether standard was
  used,
• Not informed appropriately about quality of the
  product.

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Role of Standards

• Voluntary tool
• (European) harmonized standards
• Presumption of conformity
• Reference to standard in law

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• Thank you for your attention
• Libor Dupal
• Czech Consumer Association
• Budejovická 73, 140 00 Prague
• Czech Republic
• phone[phone]
• fax [phone]
• e-mail dupal_at_regio.cz